【Contemptible】 , 【despicable】 , 【pitiable】 , 【sorry】 , 【scurvy】 , 【cheap】 , 【beggarly】 , 【shabby】 are comparable when they mean arousing or deserving scorn or disdain.
【Contemptible】 applies to whatever inspires such scorn or disdain for any reason however great or small.
【Despicable】 is a stronger term and frequently implies both keen and scornful, sometimes indignant, disapprobation and a sufficient cause for such a reaction.
【Pitiable】 (see also PITIFUL) implies the inspiring of pity mixed with contempt.
【Sorry】 is often used interchangeably with 【pitiable】 without marked loss, but it often distinctively implies 【contemptible】 or ridiculous inadequacy, wretchedness, or sordidness.
【Scurvy】 implies extreme despicability and meanness and the arousing of disgust as well as scornful contempt.
【Cheap】 often implies contemptibility that results from undue familiarity or accessibility.
More often, however, 【cheap】 and 【beggarly】 imply 【contemptible】 pettiness, 【cheap】 by falling far below the standard of what is worthy, 【beggarly】 by its remoteness from what is adequate.
【Shabby】 comes close to 【cheap】 and 【beggarly】 in implying 【contemptible】 pettiness and to 【scurvy】 in implying meanness and the arousing of disgust; distinctively it may stress the poverty, the paltriness, or the ungenerous nature of what is so characterized.
