: pity for oneself
especially : a self-indulgent dwelling on one's own sorrows or misfortunes
self-pitying adjective
self-pityingly adverb

Examples of self-pity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Thrives on self-pity and emotional turmoil, seeking attention and sympathy from others. Mark Travers, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024 Scene 6: Jean’s death Oppenheimer is devastated at the news that Jean died by suicide, but Kitty has no sympathy for his self-pitying. Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2024 First there was anger, then there was self-pity, then came a period of introspection. Steve Douglas, USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2024 Where Zoolander is flashy and silly, Greenberg is self-pitying, self-aware, and self-serving: think Girls for grown men. Lia Beck, EW.com, 12 Jan. 2024 Paranoid about her unpopularity, prone to self-pity, the latter-day Queen is (as written) strikingly uninvolved in affairs of state. Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 14 Dec. 2023 Become a Subscriber The trick is not to feel self-pity. Donald Platt, The Atlantic, 15 Oct. 2023 Gore resisted self-pity by projecting mordant good humor. David Remnick, The New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2023 That, in the aftermath of the Díaz incident, almost every club could pick out a litany of its own injustices in the recent past was designed to illustrate that Liverpool’s response was somehow excessive or self-pitying. Rory Smith, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-pity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1604, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of self-pity was in 1604

Dictionary Entries Near self-pity

Cite this Entry

“Self-pity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-pity. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

self-pity

noun
ˈself-ˈpit-ē
: pity for oneself
especially : too much attention to one's misfortunes
self-pitying
-ē-iŋ
adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on self-pity

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