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pitifully + adjective
作程度副词，表示“到令人怜悯的程度”，常放在形容词前加强语气，可译为“……得可怜”。
Their pay was pitifully low.
他们的工资低得可怜。
可怜地；令人怜悯地
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
可怜地；令人怜悯地
to a pitiful degree
Their pay was pitifully low.
他们的工资低得可怜。
可怜地
In a pitiful manner.
Their apartment is pitifully small for a family of four.
他们的公寓小得可怜，住不下四口之家。
She did pitifully little work this week.
她这周做的工作少得可怜。
The team played pitifully in yesterday's match.
那支球队在昨天的比赛中表现差得可怜。
作程度副词，表示“到令人怜悯的程度”，常放在形容词前加强语气，可译为“……得可怜”。
Their pay was pitifully low.
他们的工资低得可怜。
作方式副词，修饰动作，表示“带着可怜的神情”或“令人怜悯地”。
She looked at him pitifully.
她可怜巴巴地看着他。
Not this
The injured bird cried pitiful.
Use this
The injured bird cried pitifully.
修饰实义动词 cried 应用副词，pitiful 是形容词，须改为副词 pitifully，意为“可怜地”。
Not this
The little girl was pitifully when she lost her toy.
Use this
The little girl was pitiful when she lost her toy.
系动词 was 后应接形容词作表语，表示主语的状态；pitifully 是副词，不能作表语，应改为 pitiful。
Not this
He felt pitifully for the stray cat.
Use this
He felt pity for the stray cat.
表示“同情、可怜某人”时，feel 后应接名词 pity（构成 feel pity for），不能用副词 pitifully。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
小得可怜
The apartment was pitifully small for a family of five.
这个公寓对于一个五口之家来说小得可怜。
严重不足
The government's response to the crisis was pitifully inadequate.
政府对这场危机的回应严重不足。
瘦得可怜
He looked pitifully thin in his hospital gown.
他穿着病号服，看上去瘦得可怜。
弱得可怜
His voice was pitifully weak.
他的声音虚弱得可怜。
低得可怜
Employee morale was pitifully low.
员工士气低得可怜。
少得可怜
There were pitifully few applicants for the job.
申请这份工作的人少得可怜。
Use pitifully naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
想象一只小狗掉进坑(pit)里，可怜地(pitifully)望着你——用pit记字形，ly表示副词，动作透着可怜。
语域：neutral 常见场景：日常对话、书面叙述 该词在口语和书面语中都比较常见，多表示“可怜地”或“少得可怜地”。具体语气常随搭配变化，例如 pitifully inadequate 常表示“极其不足”。使用时可先判断是用于具体动作还是程度强调。
pitifully 读作 /ˈpɪtɪfəli/。没有常见词与它完全押韵。beautifully /ˈbjuːtɪfəli/、dutifully /ˈduːtɪfəli/、thankfully /ˈθæŋkfəli/ 都以 -fully 结尾，发音也以 /fəli/ 结尾，但重读元音不同，所以不押韵。piteous /ˈpɪtiəs/ 和 piteously /ˈpɪtiəsli/ 只是开头拼写相似，结尾发音与 pitifully 很不一样。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.