Way out beginning with small pitiful quality (6)
I believe the answer is:
pathos
'pitiful quality' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'way out beginning with small' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 'path' (path is a kind of way).
'beginning' indicates taking the first letters.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
The first letter of 'out' is 'o'.
'path'+'o'+'s'='PATHOS'
(Other definitions for pathos that I've seen before include "A quality that arouses pity or sorrow" , "pitiful feeling" , "Quality evoking pity or sadness" , "Pitifulness" , "The quality moves one to pity" .)