Someone or something that is pitiful is so sad, weak, or small that you feel pity for them. He sounded both pitiful and eager to get what he wanted. It was the most pitiful sight I had ever seen.

What do you call a pitiful person?

1 deplorable, distressing, grievous, harrowing, heartbreaking, heart-rending, lamentable, miserable, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, sad, woeful, wretched. 2 abject, base, beggarly, contemptible, despicable, dismal, inadequate, insignificant, low, mean, measly, miserable, paltry, scurvy, shabby, sorry, vile, worthless.

Is Pitiful a negative word?

It, too, means deserving of pity and carries that second meaning of scornfully small or poor. It's used, though, in a much more negative sense, giving rise to feelings of contempt rather than compassion: They are asking what is this pitiful circus financed with millions of their tax dollars.