Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pitifully

/pˈɪtɪfəli/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.34 in modern English

Syllables: piti-ful-ly
IPA: /pˈɪtɪfəli/

17

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

In a pitiful manner.

Example Sentences

"The coral faded even from her lips, till they were as white as Leo's face, and quivered pitifully."

Etymology

From Middle English petefully, petifullie, pyttyfully, pytyffully; equivalent to pitiful + -ly.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: petefully

Inflected Forms

more pitifully (comparative) most pitifully (superlative)

Questions

How do you pronounce pitifully?: The recorded pronunciation is /pˈɪtɪfəli/.
What does pitifully mean?: In a pitiful manner.
Where does pitifully come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce pitifully

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pitifully”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pˈɪtɪfəli/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “pitifully”.
Repeat and practice — Say “pitifully” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.