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!
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Positive Adjectives to Describe People
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Diary of Anne Frank," Vocabulary from the drama
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“It is so much more compassionate, so much more authentic,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
No one exemplifies this generous worldview better than Lotta, who turns out not to be the villain of May’s darkest imaginings but a complicated, compassionate and rather philosophical human being.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The committee said it recognised that "short-term absences may arise without notice in cases of emergency or on compassionate grounds".
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Last year, the SSA added 13 ailments to its compassionate allowance list of conditions that are so severe they automatically meet Social Security’s strict definition of disability.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
He was a compassionate, curious, humorous intellectual, a great writer, and his religious background never came up, nor did it seem important to me at the time.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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
She compassionated the fate of the victims of the previous day.
From Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty by Arthur Léon, baron Imbert de Saint-Amand
She had compassionated him in his troubles, and he had told her in what alone his hope of comfort lay.
From Lost Sir Massingberd, v. 2/2 A Romance of Real Life by James Payn
And in truth the wretched young man was much to be compassionated.
From The Haunted Homestead A Novel by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
Colonel Fraser rose to the rank of lieutenant-general, and died in 1782 without issue; he was generally respected and compassionated.
From Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745 Volume II. by Mrs. Thomson
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
He died on the scaffold, but with the greatest serenity, forgiving his persecutors, and compassionating their delusions.
From A Modern History, From the Time of Luther to the Fall of Napoleon For the Use of Schools and Colleges by John Lord
About this time, the hospital or college of St. Juan de Letran was founded by Juan Geronimo Romero, who compassionating the situation of unfortunate orphans, took them into his house, and carefully brought them up.
From An Historical View of the Philippine Islands, Vol I (of 2) Exhibiting their discovery, population, language, government, manners, customs, productions and commerce. by Martinez de Zuniga
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
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.
