take pity on

Idioms  

1. Also, have pity on. Show compassion or mercy to, as in Take pity on the cook and eat that last piece of cake, or, as Miles Coverdale's 1535 translation of the Bible has it (Job 19:21), “Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye, my friends.” This idiom may be used half-jokingly, as in the first example, or seriously. [Late 1200s]

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Example Sentences

My role was to kick Elvis in the shin so a girl he liked would take pity on him.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

A poor Caribbean couple in Paris take pity on their deposed president when they find him living in poverty and exile.

From New York Times • Apr. 7, 2023

Arrested in June, the suspect initially said that the story of the accident was a "bad joke", invented in order to make his ex-girlfriend take pity on him.

From BBC • Nov. 18, 2022

Poe Ratcho: A play-on-words for poveraccio, meaning “poor guy” or someone you take pity on.

From The Verge • Mar. 5, 2022

Holding my breath nervously, I pray she will take pity on me and scoop my ladle of soup from the bottom of the pot, where all the solid food rests.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

Related Words

• feel for
• forgive
• pardon