How to say "pity" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 哀れあわれnounCovers pity as a feeling of sorrow or misery, often with a poetic, sorrowful tone, as in pitying a person's sad fate. It names the emotion rather than an action toward someone.
- 哀れむあわれむgodan verb, transitive verbThe verb 'to pity': to feel sympathy for someone seen as unfortunate or in a wretched state. It often carries a nuance of looking down slightly on the person pitied.
- godan verb, transitive verbUsually written in kana alone. Matches 'to pity' but leans toward treating someone with sympathy and care, such as comforting or looking after a tired or troubled person, rather than simply feeling sorry for them.
- 情けなさけnounPity in the sense of compassion or mercy shown to others, as in taking pity on someone and helping them. It suggests warm-hearted forbearance rather than mere sorrow at their plight.
- 同情どうじょうnoun, suru verb, intransitive verbEssentially 'sympathy' or 'compassion', with pity as one of its senses. It is the everyday word for feeling sorry for someone's misfortune, without the condescension that 哀れむ can imply.彼のことを同情せずにはいられない。↗I cannot but feel sorry for him.
For the feeling use the noun 「哀れ」 or 「情け」, for sympathy toward someone use 同情, and for the act of pitying choose the verb 「哀れむ」 or the caring 「いたわる」.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
- 哀れあわれpity
- 哀れむあわれむto pity
- いたわるto pity
- 情けなさけpity
- 同情どうじょうsympathy
- 慈悲じひmercy
- 哀れみあわれみpity
- 憐憫れんびんpity
- 哀憐あいれんpity
- 哀愍あいびんpity
- お情けおなさけpity
- 憫諒びんりょうpity
- 相憐れむあいあわれむto pity (one another)
- 恵沢けいたくblessing
- 惻隠そくいんcompassion
- 惻隠の情そくいんのじょうcompassion
- 憐情れんじょうcompassion
- 愛しがるいとしがるto treat with love
- いとおしがるto dote upon
- 残念なことざんねんなことunfortunate thing
See also
This browser can't play pronunciations (needs Safari 18.4 or later, or Chrome / Edge / Firefox).
