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
Winning an Olympic gold medal with Team USA last month has undoubtedly helped his mood, but there’s also a level of maturity at this stage of his career — and life — that doesn’t leave much room for self-pity.
—
Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Now 30, Varvarych was a bodybuilder and is still proud of his physique, refusing to show self-pity.
—Carol Guzy, NPR, 22 Feb. 2026
No self-pity in those four words, no performance of stoicism either—just the clean arithmetic of a life lived at full speed.
—Outside, 10 Feb. 2026
There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear.
—Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for self-pity
Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Now 30, Varvarych was a bodybuilder and is still proud of his physique, refusing to show self-pity.
—Carol Guzy, NPR, 22 Feb. 2026
No self-pity in those four words, no performance of stoicism either—just the clean arithmetic of a life lived at full speed.
—Outside, 10 Feb. 2026
There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear.
—Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for self-pity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-pity
Noun
-
Lane takes his place among the best, his Willy Loman a powder keg of frustration and disappointment and deep, deep sadness.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Underneath the fantastical conceit is this current of sadness, of loneliness, a yearning for connection.—
Emma Alpern,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Here, in this new context, their large eyes did not seem wide with their usual wonder but swollen with grief and disbelief.—
Douglas Stuart,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
-
The overwhelming grief of losing a child became even worse when a detective gave her a notebook from Audree’s locker.—
Meena Duerson,
CNN Money,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Anna ends up at a hotel bar, ordering a burger and a beer, eating her sorrows away.—
Jocelyn Noveck,
Boston Herald,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow.—
Kait Hanson,
Southern Living,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The film’s empathetic interest in individual, often eccentric human lives gives it a warmth that overrides the underlying melancholy of the material, making for a pleasingly unsentimental crowdpleaser.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
24 Mar. 2026
-
Some acknowledged the possibility that melancholy could be inherited.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
And through all this, Saariaho’s elaborately beautiful orchestration scintillates, jabs, caresses, and swerves, giving all that vivid misery a sheen of lyric glamour.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Fighting the obligations of motherhood leads to misery.—
Emma Green,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Despite the anguish — often told as a punch line — the winner of the competition offered a glimmer of hope to the nearly 90 attendees live-voting throughout the show via an app.—
Brittany Levine Beckman,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The heart-stopping anguish of seeing two West Ham winners scored and then be ruled out only underlined the direction of this match’s one-way traffic.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The agony of America’s post-1945 wars has been their gradual inducement of a sense of futility.—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
-
As young fans gripped their face in agony, the older faces held their palms up in knowing shrugs.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Doom and gloom is hardly ever the prevailing mood at CinemaCon, however.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 Apr. 2026
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Zhe says the brightening isn't just a doom-and-gloom signal for skywatchers.—
Tereza Pultarova,
Space.com,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Self-pity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-pity. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
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