commiserate
Americanverb (used without object)
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commiserates,
present (3rd person singular)
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commiserated,
past participle, past
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commiserating
present participle
verb (used with object)
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commiserates,
present (3rd person singular)
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commiserated,
past participle, past
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commiserating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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commiserationnoun
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commiseratornoun
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commiserableadjective
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commiserativeadjective
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noncommiserativeadjective
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uncommiseratedadjective
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uncommiseratingadjective
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uncommiserativeadjective
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commiserativelyadverb
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noncommiserativelyadverb
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uncommiserativelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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commiseratesimple
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commiseratessimple
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have commiseratedperfect
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has commiseratedperfect
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am commiseratingprogressive
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are commiseratingprogressive
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is commiseratingprogressive
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have been commiseratingperfect progressive
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has been commiseratingperfect progressive
Past
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commiseratedsimple
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had commiseratedperfect
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was commiseratingprogressive
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were commiseratingprogressive
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had been commiseratingperfect progressive
Future
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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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.
See Examples For:
If you’re standing in line together, you can chat about the wait and commiserate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
As people commiserate online, some have shared plans to travel to neighbouring Malaysia to catch Dear You in Teochew.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
When Bill Ackman vented over $2 million, fellow billionaires rushed to commiserate.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 10, 2026
While a dejected England leave for home well beaten and under mounting pressure, Smith told TNT Sports he planned to have "a jar" with counterpart Stokes and commiserate.
From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026
Mama had told Adamu not to open the gates to all the people who wanted to throng in for mgbalu, to commiserate with us.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In the middle of “The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side,” Jane Marple commiserates with one of her friends about all the changes that have come to their beloved village, St. Mary Mead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2022
Biden was only 10 when his father, in search of a steady job, moved the family to Delaware, a wrenching decision that Biden often cites as he commiserates with the choices facing middle-class workers.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 20, 2020
He commiserates, and it sounds genuine — the ambivalent doctor trying to help parents make sense of a chaotic world.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2018
She commiserates with them on painful anniversaries - the day their children were taken away by social services, or the last time they spoke to their parents.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2017
But Chicho looks me straight in the eyes and I can tell that he commiserates with me.
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
Carmen Schober, the profile’s author, ignored the way members of Schmidt’s online forum, Skinni Société, commiserated about their hair loss and inability to stand without getting dizzy.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
And they commiserated about life in space, and how ISS missions -- all three of the American Artemis astronauts had previously served on the ISS -- had prepared them for their historic lunar voyage.
From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026
During weekends at Johnson’s Millbrook, New York, estate, Sothea says they watched movies in her home theater and commiserated over their painful pasts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu described the incident as unfortunate and commiserated with families of the deceased victims.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2025
He hesitated outside the crowded Great Hall, then ran up the marble staircase; whether Gryffindor had won or lost, the team usually celebrated or commiserated in their own common room.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Most people react in similarly positive ways, expressing empathy or, my personal favorite, commiserating with me over their own nebulous medical conditions.
From Slate ● May 23, 2026
Huneven said that last year, as the smoke cleared, she and Zack were commiserating one day about what had been lost.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026
Instead, it offers a relaxed conversation, commiserating over a dish that didn’t turn out as planned or celebrating one that exceeded expectations.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
But social media platforms are awash with women commiserating over their painful IUD insertions and sometimes removals.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
Our lives were shaped in this room and now it will never again be the place of people crying, hugging, hating, commiserating, or tolerating, but who knows? but I’m learning that they don’t have to.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
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.
