as in sadness
disapproving
a feeling of pity for yourself because you believe you have suffered more than is fair or reasonable
He was wallowing in self-pity. She spoke without a trace of self-pity.
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Recent Examples of self-pity
There’s something delicious about his cocktail of self-pity and self-loathing, which can arouse both the viewer’s repulsion and compassion.
—
Susie Goldsbrough, The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2025
Don’t wallow in self-pity and stare into the abyss.
—Melinda Salchert, Southern Living, 20 Nov. 2025
The sadness comes from a loss, defeat, or humiliation, and is accompanied by a feeling of helplessness and self-pity.
—Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
For the first — and perhaps only — time in his Iowa coaching career, Ferentz briefly wallowed in self-pity.
—Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-pity
Susie Goldsbrough, The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2025
Don’t wallow in self-pity and stare into the abyss.
—Melinda Salchert, Southern Living, 20 Nov. 2025
The sadness comes from a loss, defeat, or humiliation, and is accompanied by a feeling of helplessness and self-pity.
—Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
For the first — and perhaps only — time in his Iowa coaching career, Ferentz briefly wallowed in self-pity.
—Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for self-pity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-pity
Noun
-
Get ready for tears – of sadness, of fear, and of laughter.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Feb. 2026
-
That's my sadness around that game.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In the r/MyBoyfriendisAI subreddit, many users posted about their grief.—
Alyssa Goldberg,
USA Today,
14 Feb. 2026
-
As her power-hungry characters go through the five stages of grief, denial is the hardest one to let go of.—
Marta Balaga,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Buckley navigates the film in elemental sorrow without sentimentality, delivering what many consider the performance of the year, and undoubtedly her career so far.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Now, their families are turning sorrow into service.—
Ashley Paul,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Fanning’s name was the first called when nominations were announced, signaling that Scandinavian melancholy would be notably absent that morning.—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
But Wednesday’s report about the parking fees quickly backfiring should turn this melancholy into fury.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Embracing misery is one kind of defiance; demanding to be heard is another.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
5 Feb. 2026
-
This year, more than usual, a group of Florida lawmakers are clinging to a Biblical-sounding principle — and doing their best to ensure that the wages of sin are, at the very least, misery.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
White’s dialogue is unsentimental but rife with anguish; Owen Teague and a seductive, destructive Abbey Lee give the pain its due.—
Brian Seibert,
New Yorker,
6 Feb. 2026
-
His murder was met with fury and anguish.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Laocoön and His Sons, an exquisite marble sculpture of the legendary Trojan priest writhing in agony as he’s attacked by sea-serpents, was first unearthed in the early sixteenth-century, the only missing piece his right arm.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Steven McDonald, a fallen hero of the department who channeled the agony of three devastating gunshot wounds into an enduring message of peace and forgiveness.—
Barry Williams,
New York Daily News,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In the gloom of February winter, these indulgences will make your day so much sweeter.—
Samantha Nelson,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
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There are no answers, just doom, gloom, and radical acceptance.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Self-pity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-pity. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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