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
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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:
The Welsh government said NHS staff are "working incredibly hard" to give patients compassionate care, and early plans are in place to help with a challenging winter.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
“When I talk about compassionate accountability, it’s not just a campaign slogan for me,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
In response to the investigation report in June, WellBN said it recognised "the seriousness and sensitivity of the matters raised" and that its priority remained providing "compassionate, safe and effective care for all patients".
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Your response to his three children’s accusations is a compassionate one.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
Actually, he was a very warm, compassionate man who never stopped feeling sorry for himself.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Not so here; he—or she, to speak more properly—is tenderly treated and compassionated; all the little blandishments of society showered on her.
From The Dodd Family Abroad, Vol. II by Charles James Lever
"Let us hear his own version; tell us unreservedly all that you know," said the president, who really spoke as if he compassionated my embarrassment.
From The Dodd Family Abroad, Vol. I by Charles James Lever
In the history of literature nothing can be found so much to be compassionated as the life led by him during those summer months in the great city.
From Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 7 A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches of the Lives of More Than 200 of the Most Prominent Personages in History by Charles F. (Charles Francis) Horne
Erasmus, whose portrait he had so often made in many different positions, compassionated his poverty and lack of occupation and sent him with a note of introduction to Sir Thomas More.
From The Century of Columbus by James J. Walsh
None: or at most this miserable, morbid, compassionated Giovanni: whom Ford would have us admire, and whom we can only despise.
From Euphorion Being Studies of the Antique and the Mediaeval in the Renaissance - Vol. I by Vernon Lee
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
Nay, even though you had just before fallen down and broken your leg, would the compassionating by-standers be justified in forcing him to take you in?
From Old-Fashioned Ethics and Common-Sense Metaphysics With Some of Their Applications by William Thomas Thornton
The poor people in the villages through which I passed, compassionating me and my little girl, gave us all the assistance in their power.
From John Deane of Nottingham Historic Adventures by Land and Sea by William Henry Giles Kingston
He lacked no attentions, though, himself, for, compassionating the state of the invalid’s health, both Dutch and Hester tried hard to make the meeting pleasant to him.
From Dutch the Diver A Man's Mistake by George Manville Fenn
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