Meaning & use
pity
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Meanings
noununcountable
A sad, caring feeling for someone who is suffering or unlucky, often mixed with a sense that you are better off.
Grammar: Uncountable in this sense: she felt pity for them, not 'a pity for them'.
Patterns
- pity for someone
- feel pity
- take pity on someone
He felt a rush of pity for the stray dog shivering outside.
She did not want his pity; she wanted a fair chance.
The judge took pity on the young man and reduced the sentence.
nounsingular
A cause for mild regret or disappointment, used when something is unfortunate or a waste.
Grammar: Used with 'a' and often 'it's a pity (that)': It's a pity you missed the party.
Patterns
- it's a pity that...
- what a pity
- it's a pity to do something
It's a pity that the weather turned bad just as we arrived.
What a pity you can't come to the wedding!
It would be a pity to throw away such good food.
verbtransitive
To feel sorry for someone because of the trouble they are in.
Grammar: Takes an object: she pitied the lost children.
Patterns
- pity someone
I pity anyone who has to drive through that traffic every day.
He didn't want to be pitied by his coworkers.
Don't pity me; I chose this job.
Word forms
| plural | pities |
|---|---|
| third person singular | pities |
| past tense | pitied |
| past participle | pitied |
| -ing form | pitying |
Common combinations
- take pity on
- A neighbor took pity on us and lent us a ladder.
- feel pity for
- I couldn't help feeling pity for the exhausted nurses.
- out of pity
- She invited him out of pity, not friendship.
- a great pity
- It is a great pity that the old theater closed.
- more is the pity
- He quit the team, more's the pity.
Synonyms and how they differ
- compassion
- Compassion includes a wish to help and feels warmer, while pity can sound distant or superior.
- sympathy
- Sympathy suggests sharing someone's feelings as an equal, whereas pity looks at them from outside.
- shame
- In the sense of regret, 'shame' is a close match for 'a pity', as in 'it's a shame you missed it', and is slightly more informal.
- mercy
- Mercy is pity shown by someone with power, such as a judge, who chooses not to punish harshly.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: pity or pithy?
pity vs pithy
Pithy means brief and full of meaning, as in a pithy remark. It sounds similar but is unrelated to feeling sorry for someone.
Practice
It's a ___ you couldn't join us; the hike was wonderful.
Choose one answer.
After 'a' the noun is needed, and 'a shame' is the usual match for 'a pity'. Pitiful, pitying and sympathetic are adjectives and cannot fill the noun slot.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.