请输入您要查询的英文单词:

 

单词 pitiless
释义
pitiless
(once / 1467 pages)
adj

Pitiless means "without mercy" or "cruel." Movie critics are often described as pitiless, because if they hate a film, they don't hold back or consider the feelings of the people who poured their hearts into making it.
The root word of the adjective pitiless is pity. If someone lacks all sympathy or tenderness, you can describe them as pitiless. People who are annoyed that they have to step out of the way of homeless people who huddle against buildings in winter are probably pitiless — they just don't care about the plights of others. How can you tell if your friends are pitiless? They seem bored or annoyed when you are upset about something.
CHOOSE YOUR WORDS
pitiable / pitiful / piteous / pitiless

We don't often look at four words that can be easily confused for each other, but this pack is an exception. Let's start with our base word: pity. Pity is to feel sorrow or compassion for someone's misfortunes or sorrows. It can also be something that causes sorrow or disappointment:

Pity the misunderstood conifer: Evergreens' many benefits overlooked

Pitiless, then, is without (-less) pity, lacking compassion. Pitiless can be cruel or merciless:

Hell, on the other hand, will be like having to read an unauthorised biography of yourself written by a pitiless researcher who has exposed your secrets.

Pitiable, piteous, and pitiful all mean some shade of deserving pity. Let's see if we can untangle the differences. Piteous and pitiable both mean being deserving of pity:

A single drought could spell the end of a society and doom its inhabitants to piteous deaths.

Barb tried to comfort me as Rusty looked on, giving me a pitiable shake of the head.

Pitiable is found 10 times as often, however, as piteous in Google News search results. Because of this difference, piteous has become a more archaic, poetic word, while pitiable remains more common. The latter also means scornfully small or poor:

All of these foods proffer very pitiable nutritional value, and it consequently makes no sense at all to carry on eating them.

Which brings us to pitiful. 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.

Maine Gubernatorial Coverage: Sloppy, Pointless, Pitiful

Union chief endorses 'pitiful' bonus deal for Palm Beach County

If you want to say, then, that something deserves pity, pitiable is your best choice. If you're looking for a more poetic phrasing, go with piteous. A contemptuous meaning wants pitiful. And if you're all out of pity, go with pitiless.

WORD FAMILY
pitiless: pitilessly, pitilessness+/piteous: piteously/pitiable: pitiablest, pitiably/pitiful: pitifulest, pitifully/pity: piteous, pitiable, pitied, pities, pitiful, pitiless, pitying, self-pity/pitying: unpitying/unpitying: unpityingly
USAGE EXAMPLES
One is a tycoon and television star; the other a pitiless product of the KGB.
The Guardian(Jan 02, 2017)
It’s an exhausting, Darwinian life he is describing — endlessly adapting to a changing, pitiless world.
New York Times(Nov 18, 2016)
It is so pitiless and I am afraid for you when I look at it.
BBC(Nov 12, 2016)
1adj without mercy or pity
Syn
remorseless, ruthless, unpitying
merciless, unmerciful
having or showing no mercy
2adj deficient in humane and kindly feelings
Syn
unkind
inhumane
lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion
随便看

 

英语词典包含147318条英英释义在线翻译词条,基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法,是英语学习的有利工具。

 

Copyright © 2004-2022 Newdu.com All Rights Reserved
更新时间:2024/12/23 19:42:59