Pĭt'i-ful, a.
a. [See PITY.] 1. Full of pity; tender; compassionate; having a heart to feel sorrow and sympathy for the distressed.
The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. James v. 11.
Sense 2. Miserable; moving compassion; as, a sight most pitiful; a pitiful condition.
Sense 3. Deserving pity for littleness or meanness; paltry; contemptible; despicable.
That's villainous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it. Shak.
Have we not seen him in his shop and his cottage amongst his pitiful kindred? South.
They will not appoint to the exercise of authority as to a pitiful job. Burke.
Synonyms—Contemptible; despicable; paltry. See CONTEMPTIBLE.