List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 281

SYNONYMS: pathetic, pitiful, pitiable, piteous, lamentable.
These adjectives describe one that inspires or deserves pity.

Something pathetic elicits sympathetic sadness and compassion: Everything human is pathetic. Often the word refers to what is so poor that it arouses scornful pity: The academic standards in the school were pathetic.
Both pitiful and pitiable apply to what is touchingly sad: She told a most pitiful story. Sometimes the terms connote contemptuous pity, as for what is hopelessly inept or inadequate: The world was in a pitiable condition.
Piteous applies to what cries out for pity: They made piteous lamentation to us to save them.
Lamentable suggests the evocation of pity mixed with sorrow: They told us a most lamentable tale.