compassion
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
Usage
What does compassion mean? Compassion is a feeling of sympathy or pity for others, especially one that makes you want to help them.Compassion is sometimes used interchangeably with sympathy, which most most commonly means the sharing of emotions with someone else, especially sadness. Both words are used in the context of feeling sorry for people who are in negative situations. But compassion is often understood as a feeling that motivates you to help them.The opposite of compassion is often thought to be indifference or cold-heartedness.Someone who has compassion for others can be described as compassionate. Being compassionate typically means you care and you want to help.Example: We should treat people with compassion because that’s how we want to be treated.
Related Words
See sympathy.
Other Word Forms
- compassionless adjective
- uncompassion noun
- uncompassioned adjective
Etymology
Origin of compassion
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English (from Anglo-French ), from Late Latin compassiōn- (stem of compassiō ). See com-, passion
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.
An attorney for the driver thanked the family for their compassion and forgiveness, saying he is determined "to live a life that would make Jason Hughes proud", according to the BBC's US partner, CBS News.
From BBC
The King's Commonwealth message praised the association of 56 countries as a family "united by shared values of justice, democracy, opportunity, compassion and mutual respect".
From BBC
I had seen dogs with compassion for each other and their young, and with anger and joy and hate and love but this humor went into me more than the other things.
From Literature
The doomed romances, too—particularly between luminaries whose intellectual or artistic curiosity doesn’t extend to compassion for the people they claim to love.
“It’s the empathy and compassion and willingness to look at, and deconstruct, systems that might not be working for you.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
