pity Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
    commiseration; ruth; pathos.
    • the blind are too often objects of pity
  2. noun an unfortunate development
    shame.
    • it's a pity he couldn't do it
  3. noun the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it
    compassion.
  4. verb share the suffering of
    condole with; sympathize with; compassionate; feel for.

WordNet

Pit"y noun
Etymology
OE. pite, OF. pité, pitié, F. pitié, L. pietas piety, kindness, pity. See Pious, and cf. Piety.
Wordforms
plural Pities
Definitions
  1. Piety. Obs. Wyclif.
  2. A feeling for the sufferings or distresses of another or others; sympathy with the grief or misery of another; compassion; fellow-feeling; commiseration.
    He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord. Prov. xix. 17.
    He . . . has no more pity in him than a dog. Shak.
  3. A reason or cause of pity, grief, or regret; a thing to be regretted. "The more the pity." Shak.
    What pity is it That we can die but once to serve our country! Addison.
    ✍ In this sense, sometimes used in the plural, especially in the colloquialism: "It is a thousand pities." Syn. -- Compassion; mercy; commiseration; condolence; sympathy, fellow-suffering; fellow-feeling. -- Pity, Sympathy, Compassion. Sympathy is literally fellow-feeling, and therefore requiers a certain degree of equality in situation, circumstances, etc., to its fullest exercise. Compassion is deep tenderness for another under severe or inevitable misfortune. Pity regards its object not only as suffering, but weak, and hence as inferior.
Pit"y transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Pitied ; present participle & verbal noun Pitying
Definitions
  1. To feel pity or compassion for; to have sympathy with; to compassionate; to commiserate; to have tender feelings toward (any one), awakened by a knowledge of suffering.
    Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Ps. ciii. 13.
  2. To move to pity; -- used impersonally. Obs.
    It pitieth them to see her in the dust. Bk. of Com. Prayer.
Pit"y intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To be compassionate; to show pity.
    I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy. Jer. xiii. 14.

Webster 1913