The expression ācoffee breakā was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
PITEOUS
hapless, miserable, misfortunate, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, wretched
(adjective) deserving or inciting pity; āa hapless victimā; āmiserable victims of warā; āthe shabby room struck her as extraordinarily patheticā- Galsworthy; āpiteous appeals for helpā; āpitiable homeless childrenā; āa pitiful fateā; āOh, you poor thingā; āhis poor distorted limbsā; āa wretched lifeā
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
piteous (comparative more piteous, superlative most piteous)
Provoking pity, compassion, or sympathy.
Synonyms: heartbreaking, heartrending, lamentable, pathetic, pitiful
(obsolete) Showing devotion to God.
Synonyms: devout, pious
(obsolete) Showing compassion.
Synonyms: compassionate, tender
(obsolete) Of little importance or value.
Synonyms: miserable, paltry, pathetic, mean, pitiful
Anagrams
• poustie
Source: Wiktionary
Pit"e*ous, a. Etym: [OE. pitous, OF. pitos, F. piteux. See Pity.]
1. Pious; devout. [Obs.] The Lord can deliver piteous men from temptation. Wyclif.
2. Evincing pity, compassion, or sympathy; compassionate; tender. "[She] piteous of his case." Pope. She was so charitable and so pitous. Chaucer.
3. Fitted to excite pity or sympathy; wretched; miserable; lamentable; sad; as, a piteous case. Spenser. The most piteous tale of Lear. Shak.
4. Paltry; mean; pitiful. "Piteous amends." Milton.
Syn.
– Sorrowful; mournful; affecting; doleful; woeful; rueful; sad; wretched; miserable; pitiable; pitiful; compassionate.
– Pit"e*ous*ly, adv.
– Pit"e*ous*ness, n.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
22 February 2025
ANALYSIS
(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., āthe father of the brideā instead of āthe brideās fatherā
Coffee Trivia
