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Pitiful vs Petty - What's the difference?

pitiful | petty |

As adjectives the difference between pitiful and petty

is that pitiful is feeling pity; merciful while petty is little, small, secondary in rank or importance.

As a proper noun Petty is

{{surname|lang=en}.

pitiful

English

Alternative forms

* pitifull (archaic)

Adjective

(pitifuller)
  • Feeling pity; merciful.
  • * 1851 , Herman Melville, Moby-Dick :
  • Straightway, he now goes on to make a full confession; whereupon the mariners became more and more appalled, but still are pitiful .
  • So appalling or sad that one feels or should feel sorry for it; eliciting pity.
  • Scotland has a pitiful climate.
  • Very small (of an amount or number).
  • A pitiful number of students bothered to turn up.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    petty

    English

    (wikipedia petty)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Little, small, secondary in rank or importance.
  • Like a petty god I walked about, admired of all.'' (Milton, ''Samson Agonistes , 1671)
    petty officer'', ''petty cash
  • Insignificant, trifling, or inconsiderable.
  • a petty fault
  • Narrow-minded, small-minded.
  • Derived terms

    * petty cash * petty officer * petty king * pettiness * petty crime

    Synonyms

    * See also

    See also

    * quibble