pitiful

Etymology

From Middle English pityful, piteful, piteeful, equivalent to pity + -ful.

adj

1. (now rare) Feeling pity; merciful.
2. So appalling or sad that one feels or should feel sorry for it; eliciting pity.
   Scotland has a pitiful climate.
3. Of an amount or number: very small.
   A pitiful number of students bothered to turn up.

adv

1. (colloquial, dialect) In a pitiful manner; pitifully; piteously; pathetically.
   ‘She followed ’em, cryin’ pitiful, to the old boat on the Wall[.]’ 1906, Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill, London: Penguin Books, published 1994, page 194