pity
Americannoun
-
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:
- compassion, commiseration
-
a cause or reason for pity, sorrow, or regret.
What a pity you could not go!
adjective
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
-
sympathy or sorrow felt for the sufferings of another
-
to have sympathy or show mercy for
-
something that causes regret or pity
-
an unfortunate chance
what a pity you can't come
-
it is highly regrettable (that)
verb
Synonym Usage
See sympathy .
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pitysimple
-
pitiessimple
-
have pitiedperfect
-
has pitiedperfect
-
am pityingprogressive
-
are pityingprogressive
-
is pityingprogressive
-
have been pityingperfect progressive
-
has been pityingperfect progressive
Past
-
pitiedsimple
-
had pitiedperfect
-
was pityingprogressive
-
were pityingprogressive
-
had been pityingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pity
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”); see origin at piety
Explanation
If you feel pity, you feel sympathy for someone else's suffering. A documentary on prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted might make you feel pity for them. Use pity as a noun or a verb. You feel pity for the really bad singer so you try to look attentive, but then you pity yourself for having to suffer through his terrible rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." We also say something is a pity if it's something to be sad about. It's a pity that your computer crashed right after you finished your paper.
Vocabulary lists containing pity
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
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"Fine?" Vocabulary from the short story
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"The People Could Fly," Vocabulary from the folk tale
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When they first appeared on screen, and for most of their time giving evidence, Donaldson stared at them with a look of what seemed like pity or sadness on his face.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
"It's a pity" China has missed out on every World Cup except 2002, he said, given football's popularity at home.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Antonelli said: "It was very difficult to get the tyres in the right window. It was a pity to miss out by such a small amount but George did a great lap."
From BBC ● May 23, 2026
Yes, it’s a pity more Hollywood movies aren’t flying to France.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
“I’m only able to call because my mom is at work and Hélène took pity on me.”
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
What If they knew the panoply of pities we can name—pities for them, for ourselves?
From Scientific American ● Sep. 23, 2023
Sheila Veal, 62, pities the alleged shooter, saying his consumption and propagation of such a hateful ideology didn’t allow him to fully engage with the world.
From Washington Post ● May 20, 2022
On days when my anxiety is raging, I picture myself as an old woman whom everyone pities, sitting all alone at my niece’s wedding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2021
Allie pities “poor Condi, who seemed to have spent a lifetime offering graciousness as a kind of microwaved substitute for actual warmth.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2019
“Bless her heart! She pities him, so she is good to him,” said Jo, beaming at her from the croquet ground.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Véra resents being pitied, while Agathe cannot bear to confront her feelings of guilt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026
His fans rolled with his excesses and pitied his life tragedies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2025
The mayor grew up in a building so decrepit — filthy hallways, no private toilets, no showers — that his friends in nearby concrete towers pitied him.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
If I lived nearby, I could help out easily with prepared meals or some such, but I don’t want to make them uncomfortable or pitied by giving them cold hard cash.
From Slate ● Dec. 2, 2022
I’d never realized, not until the last year or two of my life, how shaming it is to be pitied.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
It elicited pitying sighs from Labour's enlarged cohort of MPs, struggling to fit on the green benches on the government side of the House of Commons.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2024
Josh: In our quest to become better recyclers, Melissa, I found myself pitying the ephemeral life of a pizza box.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
“I was simply a person who had nothing to share, nothing worth sharing,” she remembers, pitying her “big pink teacher” for not understanding.
From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2022
People would visit me, with sad, pitying looks on their faces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2022
After a pitying glance at her husband, she accepted.
From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
