piteous
/ˈpɪtɪəs
/adjective
Deserving or arousing pity: a piteous cry...
- The girl uttered a cry, long, tremulous, heart-rending, piteous.
- This same mother will also tell you not to cut the tree, for it will bleed real blood during the night and cry out with a piteous wail.
- The court proved immune to these piteous cries and upheld the sentence, anyway.
Derivatives
piteously
/ adverb ...- I will now refrain from weeping piteously into my keyboard.
- The woman chewed the herbs for a while, as if mulling them over slowly, and then swallowed piteously.
- Young and old, they stand in corners, hands outstretched, mewing piteously.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French piteus, from Latin pietas 'piety, pity' (see piety).