| / English Dictionary |
PITY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: pitied
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it
Synonyms:
compassion; pity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("pity" is a kind of...):
mercifulness; mercy (a disposition to be kind and forgiving)
Derivation:
pity (share the suffering of)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An unfortunate development
Example:
it's a pity he couldn't do it
Synonyms:
pity; shame
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("pity" is a kind of...):
bad luck; misfortune (unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event)
Derivation:
piteous (deserving or inciting pity)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
Example:
the blind are too often objects of pity
Synonyms:
commiseration; pathos; pity; ruth
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("pity" is a kind of...):
fellow feeling; sympathy (sharing the feelings of others (especially feelings of sorrow or anguish))
Derivation:
piteous (deserving or inciting pity)
pity (share the suffering of)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they pity ... he / she / it pities
Past simple: pitied
Past participle: pitied
-ing form: pitying
Sense 1
Meaning:
Share the suffering of
Synonyms:
compassionate; condole with; feel for; pity; sympathize with
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "pity" is one way to...):
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pity"):
commiserate; sympathise; sympathize (to feel or express sympathy or compassion)
care (feel concern or interest)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sentence example:
Sam cannot pity Sue
Derivation:
pity (the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it)
pity (a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others)
Context examples:
My first feeling, as I have just said, was one of pity and horror.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And oh, my God, my God, pity me! He placed his reeking lips upon my throat!
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
He only smiled in his beard and repeated "Really! Really!" in the pitying tone one would use to a child.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It's a pity, but nothing goes right this week, and Pip has had the worst of the experiment.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
It is a pity they are not handsome!
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
"It is a great pity!" Dutchy volunteered.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
And now do you pity me, Miss Dashwood? —or have I said all this to no purpose?
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Ah! that's a great pity; for I assure you, Miss Woodhouse, where the waters do agree, it is quite wonderful the relief they give.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
He excites at once my admiration and my pity to an astonishing degree.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
It is a pity to wake him.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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