The phrase "a pitiful but" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when introducing a contrasting idea or sentiment that follows a description of something unfortunate or lacking.
Example: "The project was a pitiful but necessary attempt to address the community's needs."
Alternatives: "a sad yet" or "a lamentable but".
But the big interruption came with Takuya Muramatsu, a pitiful but powerful creature.
I left his apartment early on the morning that followed our long night – a pitiful but endearing pickup line, endless cheap drinks, a late-night invitation and an even later-night acceptance.
The 10-year Treasury note is the most desirable security in the world as it is denominated in the rising dollar and yields a pitiful, but safe, 3.2%.
He was a pitiful sight, but fortunately for him, he was with a big, tough by protective-looking black man.
"It is a pitiful story, but it is not 'La Bohème!' " Puccini didn't live long enough to assume the "grand old man of opera" role that had once been Verdi's.
To them, he is not a worthy competitor, but a pitiful curiosity in the cutthroat flea market that is Canal Street.
They began on a pitiful 44 for five but, under the September sun preyed for by head coach Karl Krikken yesterday evening, there has been decent progress made so far on day three.
But Jane seemed to take solace in her quiet presence, treating her like a slow cousin, pitiful but useful.
"The practitioners of the new labor history," Russell writes, "have produced countless studies of the unions of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (C.I.O ., which emerged out of the American Federation of Labor (A.F.L). in 1935, but only a pitiful few on the affiliates of the A.F.L. after the split...
The chaos we are witnessing these days in the Middle East reflects not only a failure of American policy but also a pitiful lack of American self-knowledge.
