pity
1 of 2noun
ˈpi-tē 
plural pities
1
a
: sympathetic sorrow for one suffering, distressed, or unhappy
b
: capacity to feel pity
2
: something to be regretted
it's a pity you can't go
pity
2 of 2verb
pitied; pitying
transitive verb
: to feel pity for
intransitive verb
: to feel pity
Synonyms
Noun
- crime
- disgrace
- shame
- sin
Verb
- ache (for)
- bleed (for)
- commiserate (with)
- compassionate
- condole (with)
- feel (for)
- sympathize (with)
- yearn (over)
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun She has had a hard life and deserves your pity. I felt deep pity for the lost dog. He didn't live to see his daughter grow up, and that's a pity. Verb I pity anyone who has to work at that place. I always pity the people who have to work in this freezing weather.
Recent Examples on the Web
Kirsten Grind, WSJ, 23 May 2022 His loyal customers didn’t let Lycke wallow in self-pity for long. —Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 17 Jan. 2023 But Johnson didn’t wallow in self-pity, instead focusing on other ways to contribute to the program. —Trevor Hass, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Jan. 2023 On the flip side, emotional tributes to Harry’s grandmother, her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II, invariably saluted the monarch’s life of service, sense of duty, and lack of self-pity. —Mohamed El Aassar, Fortune, 15 Dec. 2022 To push through the frustration and self-pity early that week, though, the Buckeyes needed Tuimoloau’s call to action. —Nathan Baird, cleveland, 15 Dec. 2022 Whether the example is Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, or a random teenager getting big on TikTok, fame can make musical memoirists fall into self-pity, resulting in an overabundance of art about being rich and lonely. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2022 Initially, Paula didn’t seem too miserable, stationed in his special chair in the living room, snacking prolifically and playing on the PS5, collecting pity leftovers from any member of the household who’d eaten dinner out. —Reginald Dwayne Betts, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2022 It’s followed by a monologue revealing the self-pity the filmmakers were trying to avoid. —Armond White, National Review, 14 Dec. 2022 Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2022 So my grandmother knew that if we weren’t circumcised, people would pity us. —Ryan Lenora Brown, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Aug. 2021 When things don’t go well, the audience is meant to pity her as just another victim of Leighton Meester’s queen bee, Blair Waldorf. —Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2021 Because our parents made a choice—the choice to migrate—few people pity them, or wonder whether restitution should be made for decades of exploitation. —Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, The New Yorker, 18 Jan. 2021 And pity the fool who goes out too hard, which is a bad idea in any kind of racing but can result in severe oxygen debt at altitude in snowshoes. —John Meyer, The Know, 18 Feb. 2020 Cut off from his language, culture, profession and passions, stripped of his fancy degrees, bitter and self-pitying and at least said to be suicidal, Mengele always knew how history would judge him. —David Margolick, WSJ, 24 Jan. 2020 Is that a way to get us to almost pity him for his professed inadequacies as a husband and father? —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Apr. 2020 For this reason everybody pitied them no less than the sufferers. —Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2020 See More
Noun
So pity John Bacon, a 72-year-old retiree of Cleveland, Ohio. —Kirsten Grind, WSJ, 23 May 2022 His loyal customers didn’t let Lycke wallow in self-pity for long. —Phillip Valys, Sun Sentinel, 17 Jan. 2023 But Johnson didn’t wallow in self-pity, instead focusing on other ways to contribute to the program. —Trevor Hass, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Jan. 2023 On the flip side, emotional tributes to Harry’s grandmother, her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II, invariably saluted the monarch’s life of service, sense of duty, and lack of self-pity. —Mohamed El Aassar, Fortune, 15 Dec. 2022 To push through the frustration and self-pity early that week, though, the Buckeyes needed Tuimoloau’s call to action. —Nathan Baird, cleveland, 15 Dec. 2022 Whether the example is Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, or a random teenager getting big on TikTok, fame can make musical memoirists fall into self-pity, resulting in an overabundance of art about being rich and lonely. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2022 Initially, Paula didn’t seem too miserable, stationed in his special chair in the living room, snacking prolifically and playing on the PS5, collecting pity leftovers from any member of the household who’d eaten dinner out. —Reginald Dwayne Betts, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2022 It’s followed by a monologue revealing the self-pity the filmmakers were trying to avoid. —Armond White, National Review, 14 Dec. 2022 Verb
Lenù’s best friend, Lila, shows no signs of development; for this, Lenù seems to pity her. —Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2022 So my grandmother knew that if we weren’t circumcised, people would pity us. —Ryan Lenora Brown, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Aug. 2021 When things don’t go well, the audience is meant to pity her as just another victim of Leighton Meester’s queen bee, Blair Waldorf. —Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2021 Because our parents made a choice—the choice to migrate—few people pity them, or wonder whether restitution should be made for decades of exploitation. —Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, The New Yorker, 18 Jan. 2021 And pity the fool who goes out too hard, which is a bad idea in any kind of racing but can result in severe oxygen debt at altitude in snowshoes. —John Meyer, The Know, 18 Feb. 2020 Cut off from his language, culture, profession and passions, stripped of his fancy degrees, bitter and self-pitying and at least said to be suicidal, Mengele always knew how history would judge him. —David Margolick, WSJ, 24 Jan. 2020 Is that a way to get us to almost pity him for his professed inadequacies as a husband and father? —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Apr. 2020 For this reason everybody pitied them no less than the sufferers. —Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English pite, from Anglo-French pité, from Latin pietat-, pietas piety, pity, from pius pious
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Phrases Containing pity
Kids Definition
pity
1 of 2 noun ˈpit-ē
plural pities
1
: sympathetic sorrow for one suffering, distressed, or unhappy : compassion
2
: something to be regretted
it's a pity you can't go
pity
2 of 2 verb pitied; pitying
: to feel pity for
pity 1 of 2
noun
1
as in shame
a regrettable or blameworthy act it's a pity the woodchuck ate all the flowers after you put so much effort into the garden Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- shame
- disgrace
- crime
- sin
- scandal
- outrage
2
as in sympathy
the capacity for feeling for another's unhappiness or misfortune a woman of boundless pity who tried to care for every abandoned animal she found Synonyms & Similar Words
- sympathy
- kindness
- compassion
- mercy
- ruth
- heart
- feeling
- commiseration
- generosity
- feelings
- humanity
- sensitivity
- kindliness
- good-heartedness
- kindheartedness
- love
- empathy
- warmheartedness
- charity
- responsiveness
- affection
- regard
- largeheartedness
- softheartedness
- sensibility
- bigheartedness
- altruism
- goodwill
- benevolence
- affinity
- humanism
- humaneness
- rapport
- benignity
- humanitarianism
- philanthropy
- benignancy
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- indifference
- inhumanity
- pitilessness
- mercilessness
- coldness
- disinterest
- unconcern
- callousness
- cruelty
- hatred
- hard-heartedness
- coldheartedness
- animosity
- dislike
- hostility
- harshness
- inhumanness
- antipathy
pity
2 of 2verb
as in to compassionate
to have sympathy for I always pity the people who have to work in this freezing weather Synonyms & Similar Words
- compassionate
- love
- understand
- bleed (for)
- sympathize (with)
- commiserate (with)
- feel (for)
- tolerate
- condole (with)
- ache (for)
- yearn (over)
- sorrow (for)
- grieve (for)
- empathize (with)
- identify (with)
- care (for)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- ignore
- hate
- disregard
- neglect
- overlook
- dislike
- scorn
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of pity are commiseration, compassion, condolence, and sympathy. While all these words mean "the act or capacity for sharing the painful feelings of another," pity implies tender or sometimes slightly contemptuous sorrow for one in misery or distress.
felt pity for the captives
The words commiseration and pity can be used in similar contexts, but commiseration suggests pity expressed outwardly in exclamations, tears, or words of comfort.
murmurs of commiseration filled the loser's headquarters
While in some cases nearly identical to pity, compassion implies pity coupled with an urgent desire to aid or to spare.
treats the homeless with great compassion
The synonyms condolence and pity are sometimes interchangeable, but condolence applies chiefly to formal expression of grief to one who has suffered loss.
expressed their condolences to the widow
In some situations, the words sympathy and pity are roughly equivalent. However, sympathy often suggests a tender concern but can also imply a power to enter into another's emotional experience of any sort.
went to my best friend for sympathy
in sympathy with her desire to locate her natural parents