Deplorable

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /dɪˈplɔːɹəbəɫ/

Origin

Borrowing from fr déplorable, from Late Latin dēplōrābilis.

Full definition of deplorable

Adjective

1. Deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad.
2. (worthy of compassion)To be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion.
   He is a deplorable boy, frequently being beaten by his parents.
• 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate Chapter Prologue, Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability:...it is a black spot which all the soaps ever advertised could never wash off.

Synonyms

• pathetic