piteous

From the cabin next door came Olive’s piteous moans and a deep voice.

"The amount you get per stream is piteous, so it's more likely you're going to be in a flat-share with five other people in East London."

The only thing more piteous than the mental picture of a diminished Donald Trump in the dock standing trial for lies, forgeries, and bullying is Donald Trump doing so in the presence of a whole host of people—tragically, with law degrees—who are living case studies in moral and intellectual mediocrity.

But Homes retains a quality of resigned sympathy with these anxious, immensely self-important characters — a tincture of compassion that makes them feel all the more piteous.

As I type this — alone in an upstairs room — a piteous sound is issuing from the floor below.