deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life"
Used in a Sentence
piteous
How to use piteous in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for piteous.
Editorial note
I had no idea it was even the 10th anniversary until your piteous reply.
Examples7
Definitions1
Parts of speech1
Quick take
deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life"
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of piteous gathered in one view.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for piteous.
adjective
deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life"
See also: hapless, miserable, misfortunate, pathetic, pitiable, pitiful, poor, wretched
Example sentences
I had no idea it was even the 10th anniversary until your piteous reply.
Why should I have to imagine someone in a piteous position in order to be able to empathize with them?
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
We are black holes of finance: huge sums of money spiral in beyond our event horizons, emitting piteous cries and futile streams of braking radiation, and are never seen again.
How is it not blatently obvious that is not OK to have richer people from another country picking and choosing which individuals are "deserving" or "piteous" enough to receive health care?
At the risk of being patronising towards someone using English as a foreign language, to my mind the best thing is the text accompanying the cartoon story: "The piteous woman is disturbed.
"Descartes reasoned that since animals are not rational, they are not conscious, and since they are not conscious, they cannot even be aware of pain; their piteous howls during the horrible experiments he conducted on them were to him mere reflex, the unfelt expression of material reactions akin to the shrieking of a teakettle.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use piteous in a sentence?
I had no idea it was even the 10th anniversary until your piteous reply.
What does piteous mean?
deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life"
What part of speech is piteous?
piteous is commonly used as adjective.