pity

A2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈpɪt.i/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like pithy /θ/ vs /t/

Freq #2019

Meanings

1

noun
A sad and unfortunate thing; something to be regretted.

It's a pity you can't come to the party tonight.
2

noun
A feeling of sadness and sympathy for someone who is suffering.

I felt great pity for the families who lost their homes.
3

verb
To feel sorry for someone because of their suffering or bad luck.

You have to pity him; he lost his job and his home in the same month.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sad and unfortunate... shame

2 noun · a feeling of sadness and... compassion sympathy commiseration

3 verb · to feel sorry for someone... commiseratefeel sorry for

More compassionate condolemercifyrue

Word family

Forms pitiedpitiespityingpityingly

Related forms comfort piety pious

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

arouse pity
to cause someone to feel sorrow for another person's suffering

Verb + noun

Simplified etymology

Pity came through French from Latin pietas, the noun related to pius. Latin pietas embraced loyalty, affection, compassion, kindness, and other moral duties; in Middle English it produced both pity and piety, which were initially used in similar senses.

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.

*pewH- Proto-Indo-European pitye Middle English pité xno pitet Old French pietās Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# pity

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɪt.i/
**Frequency rank:** 2019

## Meanings
1. A sad and unfortunate thing; something to be regretted.
2. A feeling of sadness and sympathy for someone who is suffering.
3. To feel sorry for someone because of their suffering or bad luck.

## Examples
- It's a pity you can't come to the party tonight.
- I felt great pity for the families who lost their homes.
- You have to pity him; he lost his job and his home in the same month.

## Synonyms
- commiserate
- compassion
- compassionate
- condole
- mercify
- rue

## Related Forms
- comfort
- piety
- pious

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *pewH-
- Root: pitye
- Root: pité
- Root: pitet
- Root: pietās

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Pity comes 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. The historical chain includes *pewH- (Proto-Indo-European), pitye (Middle English), pité (xno), pitet (Old French), pietās (Latin). In present-day English it covers a sad and unfortunate thing; something to be regretted, a feeling of sadness and sympathy for someone who is suffering, and to feel sorry for someone because of their suffering or bad luck. The wider family includes related forms such as comfort, piety, pious.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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