compassionate
Americanadjective
-
having or showing compassion.
a compassionate person; a compassionate letter.
- Synonyms:
- tender, sympathetic, pitying
-
granted in an emergency.
compassionate military leave granted to attend a funeral.
-
Obsolete. pitiable.
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
showing or having compassion
-
leave granted, esp to a serviceman, on the grounds of bereavement, family illness, etc
Usage
What does compassionate mean? Compassionate means having compassion—a feeling of sympathy or pity for others, especially one that makes you want to help them. Being compassionate typically means you care and you want to help. The word can describe a person, their actions, or a situation that involves or is based on compassion. The word compassion is sometimes used interchangeably with sympathy, and compassionate is sometimes used to mean sympathetic, which most most commonly means sharing emotions with someone else, especially sadness. These words are all used in the context of feeling sorry for people who are in negative situations. But being compassionate is often understood as having a feeling that motivates you to help them. The opposite of being compassionate is being uncompassionate—indifferent or cold-hearted. The word compassionate can also be used in a more specific way to mean granted in circumstances that call for compassion. The word is used this way in the phrase compassionate leave, which refers to permission to be absent, such as from military duty, due to a death or illness in the family or other personal reasons. Example: We should be compassionate toward others because that’s how we want to be treated.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of compassionate
First recorded in 1580–90; compassion + -ate 1
Explanation
If you are compassionate, you feel other people's pain and struggles as though they were your own. Compassionate people are often moved to work to end the suffering of others, perhaps by feeding the hungry or educating the poor. Compassionate comes from the Old French noun compassion, which means "sympathy, pity." The adjective, pronounced "cuhm-PASH-uh-nuht," means "sympathetic," like a compassionate friend who shares in your joys and sadnesses, wanting the best for you. As a verb, compassionate, here pronounced "cuhm-PASH-uh-nate," means "pity," as in your ability to compassionate with stray dogs and cats.
Vocabulary lists containing compassionate
Be Nice!
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Positive Adjectives to Describe People
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"The Diary of Anne Frank," Vocabulary from the drama
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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:
Some are dogs who have also been displaced by the war; others are compassionate humans, including a humanitarian worker with the power of canine communication.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
For many years, if you needed to take a flight due to a family member’s death or impending death, airlines would offer a discounted bereavement, or compassionate, ticket.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Their searching leads them to countless people, from journalists to police officials to a growing team of internet sleuths, who are compassionate and generous with their time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Rather, the book shares lessons she’s taken from years of therapy in the form of well-dressed animals dropping pearls of compassionate wisdom.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
He was compassionate and kind, and hearing of others’ hardships affected him so much that usually he couldn’t stop himself from doing something to help.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
He won his confidence, genuinely compassionated his anxieties, and presently pledged himself to a most kindly office—the care and provision in future for the child soon to be fatherless; long before this time motherless.
From The Square of Sevens An Authoritative Method of Cartomancy with a Prefatory Note by Prime-Stevenson, Edward
Perhaps they are rather to be envied than compassionated; for it is manifest that for them, duty—to use the eloquent expression of an English divine—has become transfigured into happiness.
From Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs (1886) by Martinengo-Cesaresco, Countess Evelyn
You compassionated the unfortunate and that is the finest jewel in a juror's crown....
From The Gods are Athirst by Jackson, Emilie
She compassionated the fate of the victims of the previous day.
From Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty by Imbert de Saint-Amand, Arthur Léon, baron
One, at least, knew of my existence, and possibly pitied and compassionated my desolation.
From Confessions Of Con Cregan An Irish Gil Blas by Lever, Charles James
Mr. Hearne is hardly sympathetic toward those who wrong women, but I hear “Consent” as compassionating all of us who have been bequeathed unequal, curdled social relations.
From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2017
“A body can’t play a symphony next to a man, without compassionating with his woes.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
The Queen's Highness, compassionating, had bidden bear him to the castle and comfort and cure him, not having looked upon his face or heard his tongue.
From The Fifth Queen Crowned by Ford, Ford Madox
It was suggested to the dying rabbi that if compassionating folk would render him up a portion of their lives, Hakkadosh might attain his fourscore years.
From The Browning Cyclop?dia A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning by Berdoe, Edward
She turned from the house and came nearer to the lake, shaking her head, as though compassionating the poor folk who lived there.
From Northern Lights by Parker, Gilbert
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.
