disapproval If you describe something as pitiful, you mean that it is completely inadequate. The choice is pitiful and the quality of some of the products is very low + pitifully piti·ful·ly State help for the mentally handicapped is pitifully inadequate
Someone or something that is pitiful is so sad, weak, or small that you feel pity for them. It was the most pitiful sight I had ever seen. + pitifully piti·ful·ly His legs were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk
deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life"