pity
Syllables: pit·y/ˈpɪt.i/
pity noun: a feeling of sympathy at the misfortune or suffering of someone or something. Also the ellipsis of what a pity.
Noun
pity (countable and uncountable, plural pities)
- A feeling of sympathy at the misfortune or suffering of someone or something.
- I can't feel any pity towards the gang, who got injured while attempting to break into a flat.
- take pity on someone
- Synonyms:
- mercy, ruth, bowels, commiseration, compassion, empathy, fellow feeling, remorse, rue, sympathy
- Feeling of contempt one has for someone who is hopelessly inferior.
- Something regrettable.
- It's a pity you're feeling unwell because there's a party on tonight.
- What a pity about the band breaking up. I loved them!
- Synonyms:
- shame
- Piety.
- Euen so on the other syde a mans harte is contrite, when it is cutte with compunction, mollified with pitie and deuotion, moued with prayers and exhortation, is affraide by threatninges, allured by kindnes, ashamed of dishonesty, geuing place to Gods inspiration, […]1558, Thomas Watson, Holsome and Catholyke doctryne concerninge the seuen Sacramentes of Chrystes Church, […], folio 105ᵛ
- A maruellous stoutnesse of a mans minde, accompanied vvith pitie tovvardes his countrie.
When Lucius Scilla had ouercom by force of armes the Citie of Preyneste he gaue leaue and commission to the Souldiers that they should destroye it, and kyll all the Citizens sauing his Host, meaning with this...1573, James Sanforde, transl., The Garden of Pleasure […], folio 58ᵛ
Verb
pity (third-person singular simple present pities, present participle pitying, simple past and past participle pitied)
- To feel pity for (someone or something).
- You have got to pity the guy - he lost his wife, mother and job in the same month.
- Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 103:13
- Synonyms:
- commiserate, feel sorry for
- To feel contempt for someone who is hopelessly inferior.
- To make (someone) feel pity; to provoke the sympathy or compassion of.
- She lenger yet is like captiv'd to bee; / That even to thinke thereof it inly pitties mee.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- It pitieth them to see her in the dust.a. 1681, Richard Allestree, Of Gods Method in giving Deliverance
Also used as
pity is also the ellipsis of what a pity.
pity meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Telugu and Malayalam
pity in Hindi
- feeling of sympathy
- दया dayā
- to feel pity for someone or something
- अनुकंपा anukampā
pity in Urdu
- feeling of sympathy
- افسوس afsos, ہمدردی hamdardī
- to feel pity for someone or something
- ترس taras, ترس آنا taras ānā
pity in Telugu
- feeling of sympathy
- జాలి jāli
pity in Malayalam
- feeling of sympathy
- സഹതാപം sahatāpaṁ
- to feel pity for someone or something
- സഹതപിക്കുക sahatapikkuka
More languagesFewer languages
- pity in Punjabi
- ਅਫ਼ਸੋਸ ਦੀ ਗੱਲ
- pity in Sanskrit
- करुणा karuṇā, दया dayā
- pity in Assamese
- পুতৌ putou
- pity in Tagalog
- awa
- pity in Arabic
- شَفَقَة šafaqa, شَفِقَ šafiqa
- pity in Thai
- การสงสาร gaan-sǒng-sǎan, ความน่าเสียดาย kwaam-nâa-sǐia-daai, สงสาร sǒng-sǎan
- pity in Vietnamese
- tội nghiệp, tội
Examples of pity in a sentence
- He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 19:17:
- He[…]has no more pity in him than a dog.c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...
- They don't fear us, and they'll never take pity on us.2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Prologue: Earth:
- What pity is it / That we can die but once to serve our country!1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page...
Synonyms of pity
- mercy
- ruth
- commiseration
- compassion
- empathy
- fellow feeling
- sympathy
- tenderheartedness
- loving-kindness
- shame
19 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of pity
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | pities |
| alternative form (obsolete) | pittie |
| alternative form (obsolete) | pitty |
| alternative form (obsolete) | pitie |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | pities |
| present participle | pitying |
| past participle | pitied |
| past | pitied |
Origin of pity
From Middle English pitye, pitie, pittye, pitee, pite, from Anglo-Norman pité, pittee etc., from Old French pitet, pitié, from Latin pietās. See also the doublets pietà and piety.
Words formed from pity
Phrases with pity
Words that rhyme with pity
Questions about pity
- What does pity mean?
- Pity means a feeling of sympathy at the misfortune or suffering of someone or something.
- What is pity in Hindi?
- Pity in Hindi is दया (dayā), अनुकंपा (anukampā). See Pity meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use pity in a sentence?
- He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord.
- What part of speech is pity?
- Pity can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce pity?
- Pity is pronounced /ˈpɪt.i/.
- What is the plural of pity?
- The plural of pity is pities.
Words near pity in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pity (page history and authors); pity (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pity.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.