commiserate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of commiserate
First recorded in 1585–95; from Latin commiserātus (past participle of commiserārī ), equivalent to com- com- + miser “pitiable” ( see misery) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When you commiserate with your buddies, you're sharing your lousy feelings. People who commiserate have the same negative feelings about something. Take a look at how commiserate is built: it's from Latin "com-," which means "together with," and miserārī, "to pity." Put them together, and you get "to pity one another, commiserate." When you commiserate, you and your fellow commiserators talk about how badly you're all feeling. After the layoffs, we all went to the bar to commiserate.
Vocabulary lists containing commiserate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Commiserate with them to get the unvarnished truth.
From Inc • Apr. 1, 2011
"Commiserate my position and send for Miss Meredith," I prayed.
From One of My Sons by Green, Anna Katharine
Commiserate to the erring she was Regina angelorum, the angel queen.
From Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern by Saltus, Edgar
Commiserate, kom-iz′ėr-āt, v.t. to feel for the miseries of another: to pity: to condole with.—adj.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
He saw no reason why his friends should Commiserate him because of the endless handshaking.
From Lincoln; An Account of his Personal Life, Especially of its Springs of Action as Revealed and Deepened by the Ordeal of War by Stephenson, Nathaniel W. (Nathaniel Wright)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
