pity

[ pit-ee ]

noun

, plural pit·ies.

1. sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another, often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy:

   to feel pity for a starving child.

   Synonyms: commiseration, compassion

2. a cause or reason for pity, sorrow, or regret:

   What a pity you could not go!

adjective

1. motivated by a sense of pity or sympathy for others or for oneself:

   It seems he got the pity vote because of his personality, but his singing just wasn’t that great.

verb (used with object)

, pit·ied, pit·y·ing.

1. to feel pity or compassion for; be sorry for; commiserate with.

verb (used without object)

, pit·ied, pit·y·ing.

1. to have compassion; feel pity.

pity

/ ˈpɪtɪ /

noun

1. sympathy or sorrow felt for the sufferings of another
2. have pity on or take pity on
   to have sympathy or show mercy for
3. something that causes regret or pity
4. an unfortunate chance

   what a pity you can't come

5. more's the pity
   it is highly regrettable (that)

verb

1. tr to feel pity for

Derived Forms

• ˈpitying, adjective
• ˈpityingly, adverb

Other Words From

• out·pit·y verb (used with object) outpitied outpitying
• un·pit·ied adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pity¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English pite, from Old French pite, earlier pitet, from Latin pietāt- (stem of pietās “dutiful respect, sense of duty”); piety none

Word History and Origins

Origin of pity¹

C13: from Old French pité, from Latin pietās duty

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. have / take pity, to show mercy or compassion.

More idioms and phrases containing pity

see for one's (pity's) sake ; take pity on .

Synonym Study

See sympathy none.

Example Sentences

"It doesn't feel right that this has come on by pity and like I said it's not easy for people with disabilities to travel and I think it's unfair they'd even ask us to do that."

From BBC

From a distance, I stared with a mix of pity and disgust.

From Los Angeles Times

Fanning the flames for many more paragraphs, Peyser closes with, "I pity her."

From Salon

If you have a male friend who is throwing himself a pity party because he didn't like what some liberal lady said on Twitter, one swift way to deal is telling him to eat some crackers.

From Salon

“Harris needs to establish more dominance, I don’t want to feel like I’m pity voting for her.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• feel for
• forgive
• pardon