Pitiful, a.
1. Full of pity; tender-hearted; compassionate; kind; merciful; sympathetic. The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. James v. 11.
2. Piteous; lamentable; eliciting compassion. A thing, indeed, very pitiful and horrible. Spenser.
3. To be pitied for littleness or meanness; miserable; paltry; contemptible; despicable. That's villainous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it. Shak.
Syn. -- Despicable; mean; paltry. See Contemptible. -- Pit"i*ful*ly, adv. -- Pit"i*ful*ness, n.
Shades of meaning
Pitiful originally signified full of pity; as, "the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy," James v, 11; but this usage is now archaic, and the meaning in question is appropriated by such words as merciful and compassionate. Pitiful and pitiable now refer to what may be deserving of pity, pitiful being used chiefly for that which is merely an object of thought, pitiable for that which is brought directly before the senses; as, a pitiful story; a pitiable object; a pitiable condition. Since pity, however, always implies weakness or inferiority in that which is pitied, pitiful and pitiable are often used, by an easy transition, for what might awaken pity, but does awaken contempt; as, a pitiful excuse; he presented a pitiable appearance. Piteous is now rarely used in its earlier sense of feeling pity, but in its derived sense applies to what really excites the emotion; as, a piteous cry. Compare humane; mercy; pity.