compassionate

[adjective kuhm-pash-uh-nit; verb kuhm-pash-uh-neyt]

See more synonyms for compassionate on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having or showing compassion: a compassionate person; a compassionate letter.
granted in an emergency: compassionate military leave granted to attend a funeral.
Obsolete. pitiable.

verb (used with object), com·pas·sion·at·ed, com·pas·sion·at·ing.

Archaic. to pity or have compassion for.

Origin of compassionate

First recorded in 1580–90; compassion + -ate¹

Related formscom·pas·sion·ate·ly, adverbcom·pas·sion·ate·ness, nounun·com·pas·sion·ate, adjectiveun·com·pas·sion·ate·ly, adverbun·com·pas·sion·ate·ness, noun

Synonyms for compassionate

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1. pitying, sympathizing, sympathetic, tender.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for compassionate

sympathetic, benevolent, charitable, warm, merciful, humane, warmhearted, tender, forbearing, sparing, pitying, understanding, humanitarian, indulgent, kindhearted, kindly, lenient, piteous, responsive, softhearted

Examples from the Web for compassionate

Contemporary Examples of compassionate

There is a procedure called “compassionate release” allowing terminally ill men to die at home.
A Million Ways to Die in Prison
Daniel Genis
December 8, 2014
The compassionate release was cancelled and he was sent back to his cell.
A Million Ways to Die in Prison
Daniel Genis
December 8, 2014
I know there are police officers who are kind, compassionate, and smart.
Are College Educated Police Safer?
Keli Goff
December 1, 2014
People were attracted to early Christianity by its compassionate egalitarianism.
Karen Armstrong’s New Rule: Religion Isn’t Responsible for Violence
Patricia Pearson
October 29, 2014
Such is the Sierra Leonean way, the most tolerant, compassionate, and friendly people I have found anywhere.
In Sierra Leone, the Plague Is Closing in Around Us
Ned Eustace
October 13, 2014

Historical Examples of compassionate

Our Government must at the same time be both competent and compassionate.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
Were you to know how I have suffered, you would be compassionate.
The Dream
Emile Zola
He was quite incapable of any compassionate feeling about the boy, or about his fate.
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
Not one to save her,––not one of all the compassionate people!
Poems
William D. Howells
The others looked at him and smiled with an air of compassionate superiority.
Fruitfulness
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for compassionate

compassionate

adjective

showing or having compassion
compassionate leave leave granted, esp to a serviceman, on the grounds of bereavement, family illness, etc

Derived Formscompassionately, adverbcompassionateness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for compassionate

adj.

1580s, from compassion + -ate (1). Related: Compassionately. Phrase compassionate conservatism in American political language recorded by 1992, popularized, if not coined, by Marvin Olasky, University of Texas at Austin instructor.