deplorable

comparative more deplorable · superlative most deplorable

1. To be deplored.
   1. To be felt sorrow for; worthy of compassion; lamentable.

      We were all saddened by the deplorable death of his son.

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      [T]he storie of / Your most deplorable fortune at the first warmde mee / With more then modest heates, but since I saw you / I am all fire, and shall turne cyndars, yf / You showe not mercie to mee.

      1631 May 17 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Philip Massinger, Believe as You List: A Tragedy (Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages. […]; XXVII), London: […] [F]or the Percy Society, by Richards, […], published 1849, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii

      [T]heſe ſeaſons are defined by the motions of the Sun; […] vvhereas remaining in one place theſe diſtinctions had ceaſed, and conſequently the generation of all things depending on their viciſſitudes; making in one hemiſphere a perpetuall Summer, in the other a deplorable and comfortleſſe VVinter, […]

      1646, Thomas Browne, “A Digression of the Wisdome of God in the Site and Motion of the Sun”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 6th book, page 291

      O hard-hearted, and deplorable Tovvn of Manſoul, hovv long vvilt thou love thy ſinful, ſinful ſimplicity, and ye fools delight in their ſcorning?

      1682, John Bunyan, “[The Summons It Self]”, in The Holy War, Made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World. […], London: […] Dorman Newman […]; and Benjamin Alsop […], →OCLC, page 94

      [T]ho' my Caſe vvas deplorable enough, yet I had great Cauſe for Thankfulneſs, and that I vvas not driven to any Extremities for Food; but rather Plenty, even to Dainties.

      1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, pages 128–129

      But the people beheld the deplorable ſituation of their Sovereign vvith inſenſibility; and ſo ſtrong vvas their perſuaſion of her guilt, and ſo great the violence of their indignation, that the ſufferings of their Queen did not, in any degree, mitigate their reſentment, or procure her that ſympathy, vvhich is ſeldom denied to unfortunate Princes.

      1759, William Robertson, “Book IV”, in The History of Scotland, during the Reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI, till His Accession to the Crown of England. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar […], →OCLC, page 368

      Synonyms: deplorate, pathetic, atrabiliary, atrabilious, depressing, distressing, grievous, heartbreaking

   2. Deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad, wretched.

      Poor children suffer permanent damage due to deplorable living conditions and deplorable treatment by law enforcement.

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      Poor children are often accused of having deplorable manners, when they are, in fact, simply responding to society in ways that mirror how society treats them.

      There are some abuses among us of great consequence, the reformation of which is properly your province; though, as far as I have been conversant in your papers, you have not yet considered them. These are, the deplorable ignorance that for some years hath reigned among our English writers, the great depravity of our taste, and the continual corruption of our style.

      1710 October 8 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Jonathan Swift], “Wednesday, September 28, 1710”, in The Tatler, number 230; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume III, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 254

      I assert that the attacks directed against the Bank of the United States, originate in the same propensities which militate against the Federal Government; and that the very numerous opponents of the former afford a deplorable symptom of the decreasing support of the latter.

      1835, Alexis de Tocqueville, “The Present, and Probable Future Condition of the Three Races which Inhabit the Territory of the United States”, in Henry Reeve, transl., Democracy in America. […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, page 413

      The repeated tactic of deus ex machina (without a deus) has a deplorable effect on both the plot and the dialogue.

      2007 August 12, Christopher Hitchens, “Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 07 Apr 2020

      Synonyms: damnable, scornworthy

plural deplorables

1. A person or thing that is to be deplored.

   [W]hat better is an old fellow, mauled with rheumatism and other deplorables.

   1828 April 10 (date written), Walter Scott, “[Entry dated 10 April 1828]”, in David Douglas, editor, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott […], volume II, Edinburgh: David Douglas, published 1890, →OCLC, page 157

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   [H]eralding, this season, an end of the most awful of all apparel abominations, that most despicable of all deplorables, the ankle sock.

   1970, Harold Hayes, editor, Esquire, volume 74, Chicago, Ill.: Esquire, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 183, column 1

2. USderogatoryneologismspecificallygovernmentA supporter of Donald Trump.

   Trump's fate, [Steve] Bannon declared, rested with the deplorables, who had to be brought to the kind of fearful emotional pitch that would get them to the polls.

   2019 June 4, Michael Wolff, “McCain, Woodward, Anonymous”, in Siege: Trump Under Fire, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN

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   He [Donald Trump] did not say who “the guys” were—but [John Maguire] Dowd knew he meant the Trump base, the crowds at his rallies, the Fox News watchers, the deplorables.

   2018, Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 355

   The self-image of the deplorables is that of the honest, hardworkin' people of the Christian American heartland and South who have been screwed by Washington, D.C., and the coastal elites since the dawn of time.

   2020, Rick Wilson, Running against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump—And Democrats from Themselves, New York, N.Y.: Crown Forum, Crown Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 265