
好词典

源自中古英语 'piteful'(可怜的),加上副词后缀 '-ly',表示方式或状态。
❶ 以令人怜悯或同情的方式,形容某事做得不够好或令人感到难过。
“He tried to fix the car, but pitifully failed.”
(他试图修车,但可怜地失败了。)
“The dog looked at us pitifully when we left.”
(当我们离开时,那只狗可怜巴巴地看着我们。)
pitifully small — 形容某物或某数量小得可怜,几乎可以忽略不计。
“The donation was pitifully small compared to what was needed.”
(与所需相比,捐款少得可怜。)