What's the difference between pitiful and sad?

Pitiful


Definition:

  • (a.) Full of pity; tender-hearted; compassionate; kind; merciful; sympathetic.
  • (a.) Piteous; lamentable; eliciting compassion.
  • (a.) To be pitied for littleness or meanness; miserable; paltry; contemptible; despicable.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The voters don’t do gratitude, self-pitying politicians are wont to moan.
  • (2) With grievous amazement, never self-pitying but sometimes bordering on a sort of numbed wonderment, Levi records the day-to-day personal and social history of the camp, noting not only the fine gradations of his own descent, but the capacity of some prisoners to cut a deal and strike a bargain, while others, destined by their age or character for the gas ovens, follow "the slope down to the bottom, like streams that run down to the sea".
  • (3) "); hopeless self-pity ("Nobody said anything to me about Billy ... all day long") and rage ("You want to put a bench in the park in Billy's name?
  • (4) Indeed, mainstream economics is a pitifully thin distillation of historical wisdom on the topics that it addresses.
  • (5) Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever?” It is there to remind him that the dots are worth fighting for.
  • (6) Last year, Amnesty International described the world’s response as “pitiful” and earlier this week, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants called on the EU to deliver a proper resettlement programme.
  • (7) April's family had to endure the "spectacle of your hypocritical sympathy for their loss and of your tears", the judge told Bridger, saying any tears were motivated purely by self-pity.
  • (8) And this is the mainspring of so many of his stories, novellas, and his one novel, Beware of Pity : the clash between propriety and desire.
  • (9) It’s actually a pity that there’s now a break because I wanted to continue playing games,” said the Italian.
  • (10) In his final fight, against the journeyman boxer Kevin McBride, he was a pitiful figure - slumped in a corner, legs splayed, unable or unwilling to stand himself up.
  • (11) Other negative emotions – self-pity, guilt, apathy, pessimism, narcissism – make it a deeply unattractive illness to be around, one that requires unusual levels of understanding and tolerance from family and friends.
  • (12) He said it was a “pity” that the UK prime minister “wasn’t able to express the British position at the press conference with Donald Trump standing next to her”.
  • (13) As the turbulent commercial radio sector enters another new phase, Park wants to sweep away the thinking that has left too many of his colleagues wallowing in self-pity, and turn his fire on a familiar target.
  • (14) Broadly defined, this sort of behaviour involves procrastination, stubbornness, resentment, sullenness, obstructionism, self-pity and a tendency to create chaotic situations.
  • (15) It is a pity we did not take our chances,” the Ukraine coach, Mykhailo Fomenko, said.
  • (16) "This depressing morning has now got me questioning my pitiful existence," sobs James Dodge.
  • (17) Foreign dignitaries were invited to attend for the first time and it is a pity that from Europe only Javier Solana chose to take the offer up.
  • (18) Men convicted of rape are often pitied in the media and, like Evans, quickly vault back to positions of fame .
  • (19) But after the strange denials that this old, sick man is dying I want to talk not with pity but of his power.
  • (20) Staff here dread the welfare reform bill, waiting for debts, arrears, evictions and pitiful hardship to wash up on their doorstep.

Sad


Definition:

  • (supperl.) Sated; satisfied; weary; tired.
  • (supperl.) Heavy; weighty; ponderous; close; hard.
  • (supperl.) Dull; grave; dark; somber; -- said of colors.
  • (supperl.) Serious; grave; sober; steadfast; not light or frivolous.
  • (supperl.) Affected with grief or unhappiness; cast down with affliction; downcast; gloomy; mournful.
  • (supperl.) Afflictive; calamitous; causing sorrow; as, a sad accident; a sad misfortune.
  • (supperl.) Hence, bad; naughty; troublesome; wicked.
  • (v. t.) To make sorrowful; to sadden.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) She loved us and we loved her.” “We would have loved to have had a little grandchild from her,” she says sadly.
  • (2) Wimbledon said the world No1 Williams had been suffering from a viral illness and it was a sad and bizarre end to the American’s tournament, not to mention a worrying sight, seeing her hardly able to play.
  • (3) Sadly, the bullet will not only kill off Greece’s future in Europe.
  • (4) Calum MacLean, Grangemouth Petrochemicals chairman, says, “This is a hugely sad day for everyone at Grangemouth.
  • (5) Sadly, the Jewish fanatic who assassinated Rabin in 1995 achieved his broader aim of derailing the peace train.
  • (6) It also devalues the courage of real whistleblowers who have used proper channels to hold our government accountable.” McCain added: “It is a sad, yet perhaps fitting commentary on President Obama’s failed national security policies that he would commute the sentence of an individual that endangered the lives of American troops, diplomats, and intelligence sources by leaking hundreds of thousands of sensitive government documents to WikiLeaks, a virulently anti-American organisation that was a tool of Russia’s recent interference in our elections.” WikiLeaks last year published emails hacked from the accounts of the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.
  • (7) I watched as she made the briefest eye contact with me on their way back, the flicker of hurt and sadness in her eyes reflecting mine, before the shutters came down.
  • (8) Only at 3 days did total plasma volume of SAD rats show a modest reduction of about 16% (P less than 0.05 vs. sham-operated plus unoperated controls).
  • (9) These sad numbers show that more Washington spending, threats of higher taxes on small businesses, and excessive government regulations don't create a healthy environment for job growth," Boehner said.
  • (10) Thirty-two nursing students were shown silent films in which 10 normal and 10 schizophrenic women described a happy, sad, and an angry personal experience.
  • (11) World Wildlife Fund Great Barrier Reef campaigner Richard Leck said it was a sad day for the reef and anyone who cared about its future.
  • (12) It is so sad, we don’t let her go out even if the weather is nice,” he says.
  • (13) During interviews, married couples experiencing infertility reported emotional reactions such as sadness, depression, anger, confusion, desperation, hurt, embarrassment, and humiliation.
  • (14) Half of the rats in each group had SAD surgery 1 week prior to study.
  • (15) There’s an overwhelming sadness among kids like that who have been kept there for a very long time.
  • (16) It is sadly slightly the territory we have inherited,” he said.
  • (17) In a statement the family said they were left "extremely sad and disappointed" by the verdicts: "We appreciate the work and effort over the years since events on Broadwater Farm that night in trying to bring people to justice.
  • (18) Moreover, no differences were found in abnormal lung function patients with and those without SAD in demographic, clinical, roentgenologic, and serologic features and results of pulmonary function tests.
  • (19) It is sad that the BBC chose to give Nick Griffin a platform.
  • (20) The only thing I'd say is that I know, from people who've told me firsthand, that sadly mixed marriages can be a bit conflicted on everyday issues.

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