what a pity
"what-a-pity" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“what a pity” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Used to express regret or disappointment about an unfortunate event or piece of information.
Corpus desk
Index EN-what-a-pity · what a pity · English
what a pity · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | what a pity |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “what a pity” in English
Rare enough to double-check
what a pity is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Used to express regret or disappointment about an unfortunate event or piece of information.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for what a pity, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is what a pity, spelled W-H-A-T- -A- -P-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1Used to express regret or disappointment about an unfortunate event or piece of information.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how what a pity appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
What a pity you can't attend our party tonight.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.