sorry for oneself

English

Adjective

sorry for oneself (comparative more sorry for oneself, superlative most sorry for oneself)

(predicative)

1. Self-pitying.
   • 1914, D. H. Lawrence, Self-Pity:

     I never saw a wild thing / sorry for itself. / A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough / without ever having felt sorry for itself.

2. (informal) In a bedraggled or wretched state.
   • 2017, J. L. Merrow, To Love a Traitor:

     But my scarf has been looking rather sorry for itself since our encounter with the tree.