Woeful, Woful, a.
1. Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity; afflicted; wretched; unhappy; sad. How many woeful widows left to bow To sad disgrace! Daniel.
2. Bringing calamity, distress, or affliction; as, a woeful event; woeful want. O woeful day! O day of woe! Philips.
3. Wretched; paltry; miserable; poor. What woeful stuff this madrigal would be! Pope.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for woful; he lists it under pitiful.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.