pity
[pit-ee]
- 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 astarving child.
- a cause or reason for pity, sorrow, or regret: What a pity you could not go!
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- Informal. motivated by a sense of pity or sympathy for others or for oneself: to have pity sex with a virgin; to go on a pity date with a loser.
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- to feel pity or compassion for; be sorry for; commiserate with.
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- to have compassion; feel pity.
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- have/take pity, to show mercy or compassion.
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Origin of pity
1175–1225; Middle English pite < Old French pite, earlier pitet < Latin pietāt- (stem of pietās) piety
Synonyms
See more synonyms for pity on Thesaurus.com1. commiseration, compassion. See sympathy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pity
Contemporary Examples
Lady Rose is also rather subdued in the premiere, which is a pity.
It is not a pity party when you can stand up and say, “I am,” to be counted, reaffirmed, human.
Africa was supposedly a place to avoid or, at best, an oddity to pity.
It would have been easy to pity—and forget—the women that Davis played: ordinary, working class, and unromantic.
A creature deserving of pity and a medical diagnosis that will grant them a special status in society.
Surviving War Doesn’t Turn All Veterans into Victims, Sometimes it Helps Them GrowDavid Morris
May 18, 2014
Historical Examples
It's a pity you ain't got some one to shut down on you that way.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
"It is a pity some of his friends were not here," said the captain of the ship that had rescued him.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
It has been said that unsettled questions have no pity for the repose of nations.
This we too well know you can, and have done—more is the shame and the pity!
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
It were a pity, if all this outcry should draw no customers.
A Rill from the Town Pump (From "Twice Told Tales")Nathaniel Hawthorne
pity
- sympathy or sorrow felt for the sufferings of another
- have pity on or take pity on to have sympathy or show mercy for
- something that causes regret or pity
- an unfortunate chancewhat a pity you can't come
- more's the pity it is highly regrettable (that)
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- (tr) to feel pity for
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French pité, from Latin pietās duty
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for pity
n.
early 13c., from Old French pite, pitet "pity, mercy, compassion, care, tenderness; pitiful state, wretched condition" (11c., Modern French pitié), from Latin pietatem (nominative pietas) "piety, loyalty, duty" (see piety). Replaced Old English mildheortness, literally "mild-heartness," itself a loan-translation of Latin misericordia. English pity and piety were not fully distinguished until 17c. Transferred sense of "grounds or cause for pity" is from late 14c.
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v.
"to feel pity for," late 15c., from Old French pitier and from pity (n.). Related: Pitied; pitying.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with pity
pity
see for one's (pity's) sake; take pity on.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.