How to Use self-pity in a Sentence

self-pity

noun
  • Become a Subscriber The trick is not to feel self-pity.
    — Donald Platt, The Atlantic, 15 Oct. 2023
  • This is at the root of populism, or much of it: self-pity, grievance, resentment.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 26 Sep. 2024
  • We’re steeped in the envy, the self-pity, and the crippling status anxiety that drive him to murder.
    — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 15 Apr. 2024
  • There’s no way any of these characters are self-pitying.
    — Simran Hans, New York Times, 14 June 2023
  • In jail, her friends had coached her to appear remorseful but not to cry, because no one likes self-pity.
    — Lizzie Presser, ProPublica, 28 Sep. 2024
  • The loss of Eileen and return of the self-pitying Orwell alter ego are certainly linked.
    — Stephen Metcalf, The Atlantic, 5 Apr. 2024
  • Lethargy is right there, self-pity is right there, depression's right there.
    — Alex Ross, Peoplemag, 18 Sep. 2024
  • First there was anger, then there was self-pity, then came a period of introspection.
    — Steve Douglas, USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2024
  • In a split second, whatever self-pity had taken a hold of him following the attack is gone.
    — Manuel Betancourt, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024
  • The process, at times, has left him vacillating from tears of self-pity to intense anger and severe depression.
    — Phil McCausland, NBC News, 6 Aug. 2023
  • Never mind that country music is — or was, a few decades back — the genre people could count on to commiserate in self-pity.
    — Tom Roland, Billboard, 19 July 2023
  • Where Zoolander is flashy and silly, Greenberg is self-pitying, self-aware, and self-serving: think Girls for grown men.
    — Lia Beck, EW.com, 12 Jan. 2024
  • This one stinks to high heaven for sneaking anger, self-pity, and jealousy under the guise of being a pseudo-compliment.
    — John Bowe, Contributor, CNBC, 7 Feb. 2025
  • Boyle plays Booth as both vainglorious and self-pitying.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024
  • The butterfly is meant to symbolize her fairy godmother, who helps Carolina get rid of self-pity to take control of her life.
    — Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Yet, remarkably, Williams never comes across as self-pitying.
    — Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, 25 Dec. 2024
  • Succumbing to a victim mentality in these moments can make your problems seem bigger and send you into a wave of self-doubt or self-pity.
    — Ashton Jackson, CNBC, 30 July 2024
  • Antonioni lesson learned, Davies transcends the shoe-gazing self-pity shown by so many of the world’s woke filmmakers who suffer sick Eros and sick Morality.
    — Armond White, National Review, 4 Oct. 2023
  • The film explores her transformation from a shy, self-pitying teenager to a mature young woman who learns to live in peace with herself and her surroundings.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 15 June 2024
  • This is not about wallowing in self-pity but rather accepting that setbacks happen to everyone.
    — Benjamin Laker, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
  • The self-pity in their music is run-of-the-mill, but the exhilaration and desolation and honesty and we’re-coming-out exuberance—that part’s unique.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2023
  • Satan is harsh and hypnotic, romantic and self-pitying in his despair.
    — Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
  • Now this bearish, slightly boorish artist is just another divorced guy living in the city, marinating in booze and self-pity.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 2024
  • Swift’s first foray into musical-theater writing is less embarrassing than the movie but still far too self-pitying to sit through more than once.
    — Nate Jones, Vulture, 20 May 2024
  • Scene 6: Jean’s death Oppenheimer is devastated at the news that Jean died by suicide, but Kitty has no sympathy for his self-pitying.
    — Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2024
  • At some point between his second-inning exit, and the Dodgers’ historic rally in the top of the fifth, a dispirited Flaherty decided against any further self-pity.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2024
  • But that factor also contributes to the queasy feeling in High & Low that the subject is less defined by humbled remorse than self-pitying martyrdom.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Sep. 2023
  • Gracey steadily checks Williams’s sarcasm and self-pity with comments from family and friends that are often rude or just piercing vernacular.
    — Armond White, National Review, 10 Jan. 2025
  • My biggest worry initially was that the character would succumb to self-pity or be a sadsack, but the director Noah (Pritzker) wouldn’t let my character drift into such a place.
    — Stuart Miller, Orange County Register, 18 Feb. 2025
  • The absence of family affects them differently: Maya initially comes across as self-pitying and needy, envious of Natasha’s talents.
    — April Austin, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-pity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: