pitied

pitied — verb

1. to feel concern and sadness for someone who is in a difficult or painful situati

1.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to feel concern and sadness for someone who is in a difficult or painful situation, often because you can imagine how hard their experience must be for them.

Example

Arjun pitied the stray cat and left food out for it every evening.

pity + [person] for a specific reason

When Tamar heard about her coworker's loss, she pitied him deeply.

adverb collocation: deeply pitied

Common collocations
  • pitied + [person]
  • pitied + [person] + for + [reason]
  • deeply pitied
  • secretly pitied
  • did not want to be pitied
Synonyms
  • feel for

    more informal and everyday; implies emotional closeness rather than a top-down feeling.

  • sympathize with

    more neutral and respectful; focuses on understanding rather than condescension.

  • commiserate with

    more formal; suggests sharing sorrow through words or gestures.

Antonyms
  • envy

    to feel jealous of someone's good fortune rather than sorry for their misfortune.

  • ignore

    to show no concern or awareness of another's suffering.

Grammar Patterns

pity + [person]

pity + [person] + for + [reason]

Usage Note

This sense is purely transitive — the person you feel sorry for is the direct object (e.g., 'she pitied him'). The reason for the pity can be added with 'for' or a clause of circumstance.

Common Mistakes

She pitied for the lost child.
She pitied the lost child.
'pity' takes a direct object; no preposition is needed.
He was pitied by nobody of his suffering.
Nobody pitied him for his suffering.
Use 'pity [someone] for [reason]'.

Word family

  • pity
    nounB1
  • pitiful
    adjectiveB2
  • pitiable
    adjectiveC1
  • pitiless
    adjectiveC1
  • pitifully
    adverbB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four expressions describe sharing someone else's sadness, but they carry different tones. 'Pity' is the most direct verb but can feel condescending in some contexts — it often suggests the person doing the pitying is not suffering themselves (e.g., 'tourists pitied the beggar'). 'Sympathize with' sounds more neutral and respectful, focusing on shared understanding; it is safer in formal or sensitive conversations. 'Feel for' is informal and warm — it suggests genuine emotional closeness ('I really feel for you'). 'Commiserate with' is more formal and implies expressing sympathy through words, often in a social setting ('colleagues commiserated with each other over the layoffs'). Use 'pity' for simple compassion toward misfortune; choose 'sympathize with' or 'feel for' when you want to show respect and closeness.

pity ↗sympathize withfeel for ↗commiserate

Common collocations

Nouns

  • people in hardship
  • the poor
  • the needy
  • animals

Adverbs

Phrases

  • to be pitied for
  • take pity on

Prepositions

  • for (introducing reason)

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

'Pity' entered English through Old French 'pité', from Latin 'pietatem' meaning 'dutiful conduct, compassion, sense of duty'. The Latin root 'pius' (dutiful) also gives us 'pious'. Over time, the meaning narrowed from a general sense of religious duty toward others to the specific feeling of compassion for someone else's suffering.