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
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
You’re allowed to want more, of course, but be wary of getting stuck in the quagmire of self-pity.
—Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Feb. 2026
Valdez didn’t create from a place of self-pity or victimhood, but with a bit of chip on his shoulder — eager to prove wrong those who underestimated him based on his background.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for self-pity
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
You’re allowed to want more, of course, but be wary of getting stuck in the quagmire of self-pity.
—Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Feb. 2026
Valdez didn’t create from a place of self-pity or victimhood, but with a bit of chip on his shoulder — eager to prove wrong those who underestimated him based on his background.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for self-pity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-pity
Noun
-
Relieved of their blindfolds, the men now wore heavy rucksacks filled with colored rocks representing their anger (red), guilt and shame (black), and sadness (blue).—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Reaction to the news Monday that the Connecticut Sun WNBA team is officially being moved to Houston was of sadness and regret in Connecticut, especially amongst those who had tried to keep the professional women’s basketball team in the state over the last year.—
Lori Riley,
Hartford Courant,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Billy Randolph had shaped them and how his death had altered their lives, responses came after long pauses and were choked with grief.—
Emerson Clarridge
Updated March 27,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Is such an existential shriek into the abyss, all while living in a society suffused by mind-numbing grief and nationalism, worth subjecting yourself to?—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Indeed, in Iran the slaughter of protesters by the Iranian Republican guards filled me with sorrow and outrage.—
Dr. Michael Good,
Hartford Courant,
25 Mar. 2026
-
As the communities in Maui continue to rebuild their homes and their lives two years after the wildfires killed 102 people, the flooding added to the sorrow.—
Matt Gutman,
CBS News,
24 Mar. 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
-
The transition from agricultural employment to factory employment involved wrenching mass migration, the utter misery of the Great Depression (as well as other brutal recessions, now faded from collective memory), and the painful dealmaking of the New Deal.—
Annie Lowrey,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
-
In contrast, his wife, Chandravati, is selfish as a daughter-in-law and disrespects Swasthani, leading to enormous misery for her.—
Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz,
The Conversation,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But some congregants’ anguish over October 7th was compounded by dread about Israel’s brutal, indiscriminate response.—
Eyal Press,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Accenting the anguish by bizarre apparent coincidence, less than two weeks later the National Basketball Rules Committee reinstated the dunk — it had been banned for nearly a decade at the amateur level.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Most Miami Beach residents and visitors have likely seen the giant bronze sculpture of an outstretched arm reaching to the sky as hundreds of small human figures cling to it and each other with expressions of agony.—
Lauren Costantino
March 27,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
-
But in the short term, the decision is likely to be popular with millions of Americans who’ve seen all the airport agony and have never liked the idea of using federal government shutdowns — of any kind, by either party — to win partisan policy fights.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Now the emptying shopping center could be where the Dallas Stars hockey team find their new home, and some nearby residents have greeted the idea with both glee and gloom.—
Lilly Kersh,
Dallas Morning News,
21 Mar. 2026
-
On the soundtrack, atmospheric music adds to the doom and gloom of the narrative.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
20 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Self-pity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/self-pity. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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