Pity
intj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A feeling of sympathy at the misfortune or suffering of someone or something. uncountable
"I can't feel any pity towards the gang, who got injured while attempting to break into a flat."
- 2 the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it wordnet
- 3 Something regrettable. countable
"It's a pity you're feeling unwell because there's a party on tonight."
- 4 an unfortunate development wordnet
- 5 Piety. Early, Modern, countable, obsolete, uncountable
"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, […]"
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- 6 a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others wordnet
- 1 To feel pity for (someone or something). transitive
"You have got to pity the guy - he lost his wife, mother and job in the same month."
- 2 share the suffering of wordnet
- 3 To make (someone) feel pity; to provoke the sympathy or compassion of. regional, transitive
"She lenger yet is like captiv'd to bee; / That even to thinke thereof it inly pitties mee."
- 1 Ellipsis of what a pity. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
Example
More examples"It's a pity when somebody dies."
Etymology
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.
Related phrases
More for "pity"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.