PITY Synonyms: 82 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the noun 'pity' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of pity are commiseration , compassion , condolence , and sympathy . While all these words mean "the act or capacity for sharing the painful feelings of another," pity implies tender or sometimes slightly contemptuous sorrow for one in misery or distress. // felt pity for the captives

Q: When is it sensible to use 'commiseration' instead of 'pity'?

The words commiseration and pity can be used in similar contexts, but commiseration suggests pity expressed outwardly in exclamations, tears, or words of comfort. // murmurs of commiseration filled the loser's headquarters

Q: When can 'compassion' be used instead of 'pity'?

While in some cases nearly identical to pity , compassion implies pity coupled with an urgent desire to aid or to spare. // treats the homeless with great compassion

Q: When might 'condolence' be a better fit than 'pity'?

The synonyms condolence and pity are sometimes interchangeable, but condolence applies chiefly to formal expression of grief to one who has suffered loss. // expressed their condolences to the widow

Q: When could 'sympathy' be used to replace 'pity'?

In some situations, the words sympathy and pity are roughly equivalent. However, sympathy often suggests a tender concern but can also imply a power to enter into another's emotional experience of any sort. // went to my best friend for sympathy // in sympathy with her desire to locate her natural parents

pity 1 of 2

noun

ˈpi-tē

Definition of pity next

as in shame

a regrettable or blameworthy act it's a pity the woodchuck ate all the flowers after you put so much effort into the garden

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in sympathy

the capacity for feeling for another's unhappiness or misfortune a woman of boundless pity who tried to care for every abandoned animal she found

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

pity

2 of 2

verb

as in to love

to have sympathy for I always pity the people who have to work in this freezing weather

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun pity contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of pity are commiseration, compassion, condolence, and sympathy. While all these words mean "the act or capacity for sharing the painful feelings of another," pity implies tender or sometimes slightly contemptuous sorrow for one in misery or distress.

felt pity for the captives

When is it sensible to use commiseration instead of pity?

The words commiseration and pity can be used in similar contexts, but commiseration suggests pity expressed outwardly in exclamations, tears, or words of comfort.

murmurs of commiseration filled the loser's headquarters

When can compassion be used instead of pity?

While in some cases nearly identical to pity, compassion implies pity coupled with an urgent desire to aid or to spare.

treats the homeless with great compassion

When might condolence be a better fit than pity?

The synonyms condolence and pity are sometimes interchangeable, but condolence applies chiefly to formal expression of grief to one who has suffered loss.

expressed their condolences to the widow

When could sympathy be used to replace pity?

In some situations, the words sympathy and pity are roughly equivalent. However, sympathy often suggests a tender concern but can also imply a power to enter into another's emotional experience of any sort.

went to my best friend for sympathy

in sympathy with her desire to locate her natural parents

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of pity

Noun

Yukio Mishima was a great writer, but the manner of his death, by seppuku, slitting his stomach with a samurai sword, may now be better known to most people than his novels or plays—a pity, because many of his novels are very much worth reading. —

Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2025 In her performances, Ado’s shouts and screams richly express the full range of negative emotions, such as anger, sadness, fear, disgust, pity, frustration, and jealousy. —

Billboard Japan, Billboard, 1 Jan. 2025

Verb

And Oz, who told Eve that Sofia was to be pitied and avoided, helped cover it up so Carmine could keep killing women — leaving Sofia to rot in Arkham. —

Andy Andersen, Vulture, 27 Oct. 2024 In particular, pity the pollster who has to field a survey in Oklahoma, Wyoming or Hawaii. —

Nathaniel Rakich, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for pity

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pity

Noun

Might the title speak to a shame the exhibition itself sought to overcome?

— Richard Meyer, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2025
West’s hellfire-and-locust symbolism parodied biblical judgment, but such shame no longer applies to current secular permissiveness or the progressive ideology in Marxist writer Mike Davis’s City of Quartz (1990), famous for its subversive condemnation of Los Angeles’s capitalist elitism.

— Armond White, National Review, 31 Jan. 2025