as in merciful
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Dissimilar Words
as in loving
to have sympathy for
I always pity the people who have to work in this freezing weather
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pitying
Casey Cep,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
Twenty-first-century indie shaped the identities of many Millennials, but it’s now often talked about with pitying nostalgia—as the bygone style of hipsters with handlebar mustaches pretending to be countercultural while making easy-listening music for hotel lobbies.
—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
29 Aug. 2025
Verb
There is nothing pitying and also nothing airbrushed in the pictures—just the occasional haze of a misty morning or the blurry tremor of a burning brush pile.
—
Casey Cep,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
Twenty-first-century indie shaped the identities of many Millennials, but it’s now often talked about with pitying nostalgia—as the bygone style of hipsters with handlebar mustaches pretending to be countercultural while making easy-listening music for hotel lobbies.
—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pitying
Adjective
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That painful night in Dallas now feels merciful, compared with what this Avs team just experienced.
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As the sun began to peek over the hillside, offering a merciful burst of warmth, Alonso Abugattas called this year’s Trillium Trek to order.
Verb
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The Tartan Army, Scotland’s band of fun-loving supporters, took over Boston for the past 10 days and migrated to South Florida this weekend.
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Not to the American fan who calls it soccer, waves the flag and doesn't apologize for loving his country.
Adjective
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Washington hawthorn is also very tolerant of most soils, even clay.
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That happens when the wet-bulb globe temperature, which includes temperature, humidity, cloud cover and wind, reads above about 95 degrees, though some people will be more heat tolerant.
Adjective
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Leaders are constantly in a chronic, sympathetic-dominant state that, if not appropriately managed, can have downstream effects on their cardiovascular health, immune functioning, sleep, and even personal relationships.
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Jackson thought Colorado voters would be sympathetic to the state’s water crisis, caused by decades of drought and climate change.
Adjective
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Atletico coach Diego Simeone has said publicly that the player has the right to make decisions over his own future, but the Metropolitano fans are unlikely to be so understanding.
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That's why understanding affordability has become just as important as finding the right property.
Adjective
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Be patient with kids and romantic partners, because squabbles might arise.
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Reducing friction often comes down to simple improvements such as online scheduling, prompt follow-up and easy access to key patient information.
Adjective
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With the economy in the doldrums, the public is less forbearing.
Adjective
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The World Cup’s new, forgiving format allows the top eight of the 12 third-place teams, like third-place South Korea (1-0-2), to move on to knockout play with as few as three points.
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When Argentina lost the opening game to Saudi Arabia in a smaller, less forgiving format, the stakes could not have been higher.
Cite this Entry
“Pitying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pitying. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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