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pitiable

pitiable

7 6.1
Making people feel sorry for someone or something
  • adjective
  • /ˈpɪtiəbl/
translation icon : lamentable
  • The pleasures of a bachelor son and a widowed mother are pitiable.
  • more pitiable

Nah, I think it really comes down to that you're sweet and compassionate and you feel sorry for someone who is pitiable and feel sorryable.

Examples

  • "Of course," I said honestly, "it's a pitiable situation you're in, you must admit."

    Fiction book (1999)
  • You make me sound so pitiable.

  • Again, a poor, pitiable boy.

  • My heart breaks to see the pitiable sight of your sad faces and hear your sad voices.

  • "A battered woman is always a pitiable sight.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • For what was poor Najma, a pitiable nurse, in the rush and flutter of life?

    Fiction book (1994)
  • To Lon, recently turned twenty-three, he looked old and somehow pitiable.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Among these five major southeastern tribes, the case of the Cherokees was perhaps the most pitiable.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Job's broken figure appalls: pitiable, desolate, dusted with ash, scraped, torn.

    Academic text (1998)
  • The nuns who run the shelter find him pitiable and offer him a bed in the men's dormitory.

Synonyms

poor
vspitiable
1.0

Needing pity because they are hurt, sad, or unlucky

covers that inviting quality but not only hardship as cause
sad
vspitiable
842 1.0

Bad or unfortunate and likely to make people feel unhappy

is more specifically about deserving others' compassion rather than general sadness
pathetic
vspitiable
  • Offensive
702 3.9

Very weak or sad in a way that makes people feel pity and dislike

focuses on plain deserving compassion without added contempt
miserable
vspitiable
443 1.8

Feeling very unhappy or suffering a lot

implies deserving compassion but often with less intense suffering
heartbreaking
vspitiable
92 3.7

Causing someone to feel very sad and upset

may cause compassion but is less intense in emotional impact
pitiful
vspitiable
30 3.2

Making people feel sorry and want to help because of suffering or weakness

is the general quality of deserving compassion beyond visible weakness
hapless
vspitiable
26 7.2

Unlucky in a way that makes people feel sorry

means deserving pity for various causes, not only bad luck
sympathetic
vspitiable
  • Literature
23 3.9

Causing people to feel pity or support for a character

is the general state of deserving pity, not specifically audience view
mournful
vspitiable
18 3.9

Feeling deep sadness because of a loss

is about deserving pity rather than only expressing sadness
wretched
vspitiable
16 5.7

Extremely unhappy and suffering a lot

can cause pity but is stronger, showing more severe misery
sorrowful
vspitiable
14 3.6

Feeling very sad because of loss or disappointment

may provoke sympathy but centers on feeling sadness rather than deserving pity
piteous
vspitiable
  • Literature
3 7.9

Making people feel sorry because someone is suffering

is broader, meaning deserving pity not only from obvious suffering
woeful
vspitiable
3 6.0

Feeling very sad and showing deep sorrow, like after bad news

can elicit pity but describes the depth of sorrow rather than pity itself
doleful
vspitiable
3 8.2

Feeling or showing deep sadness

focuses on deserving sympathy rather than merely creating a sad mood
misfortunate
vspitiable
  • Archaic
1 7.1

Unlucky and in need of help

is broader, applying to deserving compassion from many causes
dolorous
vspitiable
  • Literature
1 9.9

Feeling or showing deep sadness because of a loss

relates to showing sadness rather than specifically causing compassion

Antonyms

8 2.3

Admired by many people for good qualities

1.8

Respected and looked up to by many people

How Pitiable

wretched
16 5.7
pitiable
7 6.1
pathetic
  • Offensive
702 3.9
unfortunate
5 3.0
sad
1.0

Surface Forms

pitiable positive
pitiabler comparative
pitiablest superlative

Morphology

pitiable = pity (transparent) = pity + able

Regular adjective formed from the noun 'pity' with '-able' meaning 'deserving of' or 'able to elicit' pity; learners who know 'pity' can derive the meaning.

Etymology

Pitiable comes from pity plus the ending -able, and pity comes from a Latin word connected to piety that later meant 'compassion'. So, pitiable means 'able to be pitied' or 'deserving sympathy'.