Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Worthy of severe condemnation or reproach.
  • adjective Lamentable; woeful.
  • adjective Wretched; bad.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • That may or must be deplored or lamented; lamentable; that demands or causes lamentation; hence, sad; calamitous; grievous; miserable; wretched: as, a deplorable calamity.
  • Pitiable; contemptible: as, deplorable nonsense; deplorable stupidity.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Worthy of being deplored or lamented; lamentable; causing grief; hence, sad; calamitous; grievous; wretched.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad.
  • adjective To be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of very poor quality or condition
  • adjective bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure
  • adjective bad; unfortunate

Etymologies

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Examples

  • State Department spokesman Mark Toner says if reports that government security forces contributed to her death are accurate, then it demonstrates what he calls a "deplorable disregard for human dignity and respect" by Iranian authorities.

    Iran, Opposition Groups Dispute Cause of Activist's Death 2011

  • Radio Zambia Saturday quoted Kaunda as urging the South African government to intervene quickly to stop what he termed a deplorable human carnage.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2008

  • He also made reference to the prisoner abuse scandal, saying the world has been troubled by what he called deplorable events.

    CNN Transcript Jun 4, 2004 2004

  • SinoSoul.com is a food blog where you might find the word "deplorable" describing the burger "ball of beef" at well-respected L.A. restaurants such as The Hungry Cat and Jar.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • SinoSoul.com is a food blog where you might find the word "deplorable" describing the burger "ball of beef" at well-respected L.A. restaurants such as The Hungry Cat and Jar.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI lashed out Sunday at what he called the "deplorable" raids carried out by Belgian police who detained bishops, confiscated...

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • An American aid worker was among those killed and US President Barack Obama, condemning what he called deplorable and cowardly attacks, said Washington was ready to help Uganda in hunting down those responsible.

    Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph 2010

  • The Federal Road Safety Corps [FRSC] yesterday in Lagos raised an alarm over what it called the deplorable state of the 17-km Epe-Ibeju in the state.

    AllAfrica News: Latest 2010

  • It's taken so long to fix the jail for many reasons, Valdez says, most notably what she describes as the deplorable conditions she found there when she was first elected.

    PegasusNews.com stories Brandi Grissom of The Texas Tribune 2010

  • U.S. Justice Department and other agencies to address what she calls the deplorable conditions at some facilities.

    chicagotribune.com - 2009

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