[syn: hapless, miserable, misfortunate, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, wretched]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Pitiable \Pit"i*a*ble\, a. [Cf. OF. pitiable, F. pitoyable.]
Deserving pity; wworthy of, or exciting, compassion;
miserable; lamentable; piteous; as, pitiable persons; a
pitiable condition; pitiable wretchedness.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Sorrowful; woeful; sad. See Piteous.
[1913 Webster] -- Pit"i*a*ble*ness, n. --
Pit"i*a*bly, adv.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
pitiable
adj 1: inspiring mixed contempt and pity; "their efforts were
pathetic"; "pitiable lack of character"; "pitiful
exhibition of cowardice" [syn: pathetic, pitiable,
pitiful]
2: deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable
victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as
extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for
help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh,
you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched
life" [syn: hapless, miserable, misfortunate,
pathetic, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor,
wretched]