Melancholy vs Pitiful - What's the difference?
melancholy | pitiful | Related terms |
Affected with great sadness or depression.
* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
, chapter=1 (historical) Black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.
*, Bk.I, New York 2001, p.148:
Great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
* 1593 , (William Shakespeare), , V. i. 34:
Feeling pity; merciful.
* 1851 , Herman Melville, Moby-Dick :
So appalling or sad that one feels or should feel sorry for it; eliciting pity.
Very small (of an amount or number).
As adjectives the difference between melancholy and pitiful
is that melancholy is affected with great sadness or depression while pitiful is feeling pity; merciful.As a noun melancholy
is black bile, formerly thought to be one of the four "cardinal humours" of animal bodies.melancholy
English
Adjective
(en adjective)citation, passage=“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes
Synonyms
* (thoughtful sadness) (l) * See alsoNoun
(melancholies)- Melancholy , cold and dry, thick, black, and sour,is a bridle to the other two hot humours, blood and choler, preserving them in the blood, and nourishing the bones.
- My mind was troubled with deep melancholy .
pitiful
English
Alternative forms
* pitifull (archaic)Adjective
(pitifuller)- Straightway, he now goes on to make a full confession; whereupon the mariners became more and more appalled, but still are pitiful .
- Scotland has a pitiful climate.
- A pitiful number of students bothered to turn up.