making people feel sympathy

The refugees arriving at the camp had pitiful stories to tell. 抵达营地的难民都有令人同情的故事可讲。

used to say that you consider something to be very bad or not satisfactory or not enough

a pitiful state of affairs 糟糕的事态

The amount of time and money being spent on researching this disease is pitiful. 花费在研究该疾病上的时间和金钱少得可怜。