pitiful
adjective /ˈpɪt.i.fəl/
/ˈpɪt̬-/ Definition
› making people feel sympathy: The refugees arriving at the camp had pitiful stories to tell.Sympathy and compassion C2 describes something that you consider is bad or not satisfactory or not enough: a pitiful state of affairs The amount of time and money being spent on researching this disease is pitiful.Useless and futile pitifully /-i/ adverb pitifulness /-nəs/ noun [U] Sympathy and compassion
(Definition of pitiful adjective from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
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Synonyms and related words:
- a good listener idiom
- a shoulder to cry on idiom
- bad/hard/tough luck! idiom
- better luck next time idiom
- bleeding heart noun
- fellow feeling noun
- go out to sb phrasal verb
- hard luck! idiom
- hard/tough cheese! idiom
- heartrending adjective
- pity noun
- pity verb
- poor adjective (DESERVING SYMPATHY)
- relate to sb phrasal verb
- sad adjective (UNPLEASANT)
- sympathetic adjective (UNDERSTANDING)
- sympathize verb (UNDERSTAND)
- sympathy noun (UNDERSTANDING)
- your heart aches idiom
- your heart goes out to sb idiom
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Sympathy & compassion
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