Piteous means so sad that it moves you to pity. A piteous cry, a piteous sight, piteous and thin.
It describes the thing that causes pity, where pitiful now more often means contemptible and pitiable sits between them — the three have drifted apart and are easy to misuse. It is literary. Note pity, from the Latin pietas, which also gives piety.
1adjectivepiteousSo sad that it moves you to pity.
“The lost puppy let out piteous whimpers all night.”
synonyms: pitiable, heartrending
piteous is a quality of sadness.
Old French piteus comes from Latin pietas, dutifulness or compassion. Pity and piety come from the same word.
Old French
piteus
Middle English
pitous
English, today
piteous
From Middle English pitous, from Old French piteus, pitus.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire