Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

pitiful

 adjective
     
pit‧i‧ful
1 someone who is pitiful looks or sounds so sad and unfortunate that you feel very sorry for them [↪ pity]:
The refugees were a pitiful sight.
2 a pitiful amount is very small:
The fee was pitiful - only about £60.
3 very bad in quality:
His performance was pitiful - five goals flew past him.
—pitifully adverb:
The dog was pitifully thin.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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