word-vault/dist/data/cards/pi/pity.json

A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.

{
    "term": "pity",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "used to show that you are disappointed about something",
            "sensetop": "a pity (that…)a pity to do something",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "**It's a pity** that you can't stay longer.",
                    "contextForm": "a pity (that…)"
                },
                {
                    "text": "‘I've lost it!’ ‘Oh, **what a pity**.’"
                },
                {
                    "text": "What a pity that she didn't tell me earlier."
                },
                {
                    "text": "This dress is really nice. Pity it's so expensive."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Oh, **that's a pity**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It would be **a great pity** if you gave up now."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It **seems a pity** to waste this food.",
                    "contextForm": "a pity to do something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "That would be rather a pity, wouldn't it?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The place was great, but it was a pity about the weather."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "shame",
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["great", "real"],
                "preposition": ["pity about"],
                "phrases": ["a bit of a pity", "such a pity", "what a pity"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a sad feeling caused by the pain and troubles of others",
            "sensetop": "pity for somebody/something",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I **took pity on** her and lent her the money."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I beg you to **have pity on** him."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I don't want your pity."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a **look/feeling/surge of pity**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I could only feel pity for what they were enduring.",
                    "contextForm": "pity for somebody/something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He had no pity for her."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I threw the child some money out of pity."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I took pity on him and allowed him to stay."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She was full of pity for him."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We begged him to have pity on us."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a cruel leader without pity"
                },
                {
                    "text": "an unfortunate man who inspires pity"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She experienced a sudden feeling of pity for the young man."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Feelings"],
            "collocations": {
                "verb + pity": ["be filled with", "be full of", "feel"],
                "preposition": ["out of pity", "without pity", "pity for"],
                "phrases": [
                    "a feeling of pity",
                    "a sense of pity",
                    "have pity on somebody"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "unfortunately",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "‘Was the bicycle insured?’ ‘No, more's the pity!’"
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈpɪti/",
                "audio": "pi/pity/pity__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈpɪti/",
                "audio": "pi/pity/pity__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Middle English (also in the sense ‘clemency, mildness’): from Old French pite ‘compassion’, from Latin pietas ‘piety’; compare with piety."
}