Main Difference
The main difference between Pity and Sympathy is that the Pity is a sonnet by João da Cruz e Sousa and Sympathy is a perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of another human being
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Pity
Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others and is used in a comparable sense to compassion, condolence or empathy. Through frequent, insincere, pejorative usage, it is used to connote feelings of superiority, condescension, or contempt.
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Sympathy
Sympathy (from the Greek words syn “together” and pathos “feeling” which means “fellow-feeling”) is the perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form. This empathic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint, from a personal perspective to the perspective of another group or individual who is in need.
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Pity (noun)
A feeling of sympathy at the misfortune or suffering of someone or something.
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Pity (noun)
Something regrettable.
“It’s a pity you’re feeling unwell because there’s a party on tonight.”
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Pity (noun)
Piety.
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Pity (verb)
To feel pity for (someone or something). from 15th c.
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Pity (verb)
To make (someone) feel pity; to provoke the sympathy or compassion of. from 16th c.
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Pity (interjection)
Short form of what a pity.
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Sympathy (noun)
A feeling of pity or sorrow for the suffering or distress of another; compassion.
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Sympathy (noun)
The ability to share the feelings of another.
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Sympathy (noun)
A mutual relationship between people or things such that they are correspondingly affected by any condition.
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Sympathy (noun)
Tendency towards or approval of the aims of a movement.
“Many people in Hollywood were blacklisted merely because they were suspected of Communist sympathies.”