Piteous

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

1. Pious; devout. [Obs.] The Lord can deliver piteous men from temptation. Wyclif.

2. Evincing pity, compassion, or sympathy; compassionate; tender. "[She] piteous of his case." Pope. She was so charitable and so pitous. Chaucer.

3. Fitted to excite pity or sympathy; wretched; miserable; lamentable; sad; as, a piteous case. Spenser. The most piteous tale of Lear. Shak.

4. Paltry; mean; pitiful. "Piteous amends." Milton.

Synonyms: Sorrowful; mournful; affecting; doleful; woeful; rueful; sad; wretched; miserable; pitiable; pitiful; compassionate. Pit"e*ous*ly, adv. Pit"e*ous*ness, n.