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pitifully

pitifully

6 3.3
In a way that makes people feel sorry for someone or something
  • adverb
  • /ˈpɪtɪfəli/
translation icon : patéticamente
  • Rod had sold out everything so quickly that his fortune was pitifully reduced.
  • pitifully small
  • pitifully few
  • pitifully low

And they go so far as to bring one of Christie's pets to the chalk quarry and apparently quote it, just whined pitifully.

Examples

  • The number of children produced by these men and their wives was pitifully small.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Humiliated all the more for having tried so pitifully hard.

  • So these are pitifully small numbers.

  • I was so pitifully poor.

  • Instead, I went home with one small bag and served dinner to my pitifully small family.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Hard words, cold looks? She was so pitifully vulnerable to both.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • And the three women from the night before had haunted him during his pitifully short sleep, too.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Jonah shakes his head sadly, then looks pitifully toward the sea.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • To Lindsay's amazement, there was Sapphire, pitifully thin, crouched in the kitchen sink next to a dripping faucet.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The donations for the disaster relief were pitifully low compared to the need.

Synonyms

terribly
vspitifully
378 1.0

In a very bad way

expresses a degree that arouses pity and compassion rather than bad quality
pathetically
vspitifully
4 5.1

In a way that makes people feel pity and want to help

arouses pity as a matter of degree rather than expressing sadness
wretchedly
vspitifully
2 6.8

In a very sad and unhappy way

focuses on pity based on degree rather than general misery
lamentably
vspitifully
  • Formal
2 8.0

In a way that makes people feel regret or sadness

emphasizes pity and deserving compassion rather than regret
piteously
vspitifully
  • Literature
1 7.1

In a sad way that makes people feel sorry

arouses pity broadly rather than sorrow specifically
pitiably
vspitifully
1 6.9

In a way that makes people feel sorry for someone

expresses pity as a degree that makes it deserved

Antonyms

19 3.3

In a way that makes people respect or praise someone

1 5.3

In a way that deserves praise

How Pitiable

pathetically
4 5.1
pitifully
6 3.3
miserably
51 2.2
sadly
53 1.0

Surface Forms

pitifully positive
pitifullyer comparative
pitifullyest superlative

Morphology

pitifully = pitiful (transparent) = pity + ful + ly

Formed by adding the productive adverbial suffix '-ly' to 'pitiful', yielding 'in a pitiful manner.'

Etymology

Pitifully starts with the simple word pity ('compassion' or 'sadness for someone') and adds -ful ('full of') and -ly ('in a way'), so pitifully means 'in a way that shows pity or deserves pity'.