piteous
/ˈpɪ.ti.əs/adjective
piteous is spelled P-I-T-E-O-U-S: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 118,441st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, piteous means “Provoking pity, compassion, or sympathy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in piteous?
| Letters | 7: P-I-T-E-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 15 million words; the 118,441st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is piteous?
Piteous appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 118,441st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce piteous?
- /ˈpɪ.ti.əs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-piteous.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of piteous
- more piteous comparative
- most piteous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does piteous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Provoking pity, compassion, or sympathy.
- 2
obsoleteShowing devotion to God.
- 3
obsoleteShowing compassion.
- 4
obsoleteOf little importance or value.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Piteous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pitiful:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pitoyable |
| Spanish | lamentable |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does piteous come from?
From Middle English pitous, from Old French piteus, pitus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).