Pityful

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Showing tender compassion toward others in distress ; evoking a feeling of sorrow or sympathy in onlookers ; so poor or meagre as to deserve scorn
2. Feeling or displaying kindly concern for those who suffer ; stirring a sense of sadness or tender sympathy ; so inadequate that it invites contempt
3. Marked by deep compassion for the afflicted ; touching the heart with sorrow for someone's plight ; wretchedly weak, shabby, or insufficient to be taken seriously

Etymology: "Pityful" is an obsolete spelling of "pitiful", and the two share the same history. The form comes from Middle English, where spellings such as "pityful", "piteful" and "piteeful" were all in use, and it is built from "pity" plus the suffix "-ful", meaning "full of". A pitiful thing, in other words, was one full of pity. The modern sense of "pitiful" has drifted in a notable direction. Where it once meant deserving or arousing pity, it now more often means contemptibly inadequate, as in a pitiful excuse, which is why people sometimes use it as an insult rather than an expression of sympathy.