SELF-PITY Synonyms: 105 Similar and Opposite Words

self-pity

noun

Definition of self-pity

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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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 self-pity Successive setbacks have predisposed Hungarians to pessimism, even self-pity. — Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2026 Or perhaps he is known less by image and more as a disembodied voice, glitching his way across vintage Kanye tracks and rumbling words of self-pity opposite Taylor Swift. — Mitch Therieau, Pitchfork, 8 Apr. 2026 Despite the challenges, Urso refused to indulge in self-pity. — Daniel I. Dorfman, Chicago Tribune, 16 Mar. 2026 Those reflections on youthful passion contrast sharply with the Mozzer’s current state of self-pity. — Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for self-pity

Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-pity

Noun

Beat shows how so many of the sounds that were prevalent in the mid-’90s contained a unique, end-of-the century sadness.

— Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 4 Oct. 2026
People can experience grief, sadness, relief, conflict or combinations of these emotions after any pregnancy outcome.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of sadness

Noun

The ending’s weight comes from the huge scope of the Trask family’s grief, but even more, its emotional heft comes from how clearly this East of Eden sees Lee, the person who has always understood the things the Trasks are still attempting to learn.

— Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
Painful memories force her to confront first her own choices, then personal grief and finally, the family secrets that provide the novel’s distinctly elegiac and holistic tone.

— Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of grief

Noun

Because so many of Gunn’s friends died in San Francisco, a city where Gunn had found happiness and freedom, then these elegies are also a monument to a time of communal sorrow and mourning.

— Colm Tóibín, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
Another decision that those who are rejected face, at least if anger is mixed in with sorrow, is where to direct that anger.

— George Loewenstein, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of sorrow

Noun

The question for me is whether or not Lloyd will also manage to capture the melancholy of a deceptively serious play, notwithstanding its reputation.

— Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
On the one hand, there’s a fascination with collective joy and the forms of vernacular invention that aspire to it; on the other, there’s an underlying melancholy that points to the inevitability of isolation, an epistemology of loneliness.

— Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of melancholy

Noun

Cubs fans generally don’t care about the Sox, so their misery was focused solely on their team’s no-show performance at Petco Park.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026
The origin story helps contextualize the misery and self-isolation of Cathy’s later years, as the madam of a Salinas whorehouse.

— Alison Herman, Variety, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of misery

Noun

When John reveals the Halogram to Kerry (after fair warning), the look on her face is a mix of shock and agony.

— Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2026
Burns, 28, dropped to the ground in agony on his 25th snap of the Giants’ narrow 12-7 win over the Tennessee Titans.

— Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of agony

Noun

They are finally revealed as the head-lamps of a gang of thieves, robbing a church, caught closer up, their faces occasionally emerging from the gloom.

— John Hopewell, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
Inside, we were whisked away to a world of rain and candles and velvet and creepy houses and stormy, witchy gloom.

— Danielle Pergament, Allure, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of gloom

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“Self-pity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-pity. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of self-pity

noun

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