What does "piteous" mean?
Piteous: Evincing pity, compassion, or sympathy; compassionate; tender. "[She] piteous of his case." Pope. She was so charitable and so pitous. Chaucer.
Additional senses
- 2.Fitted to excite pity or sympathy; wretched; miserable; lamentable; sad; as, a piteous case. Spenser. The most piteous tale of Lear. Shak.
- 3.Paltry; mean; pitiful. "Piteous amends." Milton. -- Pit"e*ous*ly, adv. -- Pit"e*ous*ness, n.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00