Synonyms

compensate

American

[kom-puhn-seyt] / ˈkɒm pənˌseɪt /

verb (used with object)

to recompense for something.

They gave him ten dollars to compensate him for his trouble.

Synonyms:

pay, reward, remunerate
to counterbalance; offset; be equivalent to.

He compensated his homely appearance with great personal charm.

Synonyms:

countervail, counterpoise
Mechanics. to counterbalance (a force or the like); adjust or construct so as to offset or counterbalance variations or produce equilibrium.
to change the gold content of (a monetary unit) to counterbalance price fluctuations and thereby stabilize its purchasing power.

verb (used without object)

to provide or be an equivalent; make up; make amends (usually followed byfor ).

His occasional courtesies did not compensate for his general rudeness.

Synonyms:

atone
Psychology. to develop or employ mechanisms of compensation.

compensate British

/ kəmˈpɛnsətərɪ, -trɪ, ˈkɒmpɛnˌseɪt, ˈkɒmpɛnˌseɪtɪv, kəmˈpɛnsə-, ˈkɒmpɛnˌseɪtərɪ /

verb

to make amends to (someone), esp for loss or injury
(tr) to serve as compensation or damages for (injury, loss, etc)
to offset or counterbalance the effects of (a force, weight, movement, etc) so as to nullify the effects of an undesirable influence and produce equilibrium
(intr) to attempt to conceal or offset one's shortcomings by the exaggerated exhibition of qualities regarded as desirable

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of compensate

First recorded in 1640–50, compensate is from the Latin word compēnsātus (past participle of compēnsāre to counterbalance, originally, to weigh together). See com-, pensive, -ate ¹

Explanation

Compensate is about correcting for an imbalance. If you step in an unmarked pothole, the city may compensate you by paying your doctor bills treating a broken ankle. Compensate can also mean "to adjust for." So, if you did stumble into the pothole and injure your left leg, then you might compensate by leaning heavily on your right leg. Increasingly, compensate is used in place of pay. Day laborers are paid for their time, but executives are more likely to be compensated with a suite that includes salary and other benefits––what is commonly referred to as a compensation package.

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Vocabulary lists containing compensate

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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:

compensate compensates compensated compensating

For a half-century, Congress has been offering middle- and working-class Americans options for tax-advantaged individual retirement savings, largely to compensate for the disappearance of traditional pensions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

As a result, it is making some changes to compensate for the 6.8-gigawatt shortfall while limiting rate hikes on other ratepayers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

That leaves one fewer player higher up the pitch, so Liverpool have to compensate through intensity and intelligent covering.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Louisiana established its fund in 2005 and today is one of 39 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that compensate the wrongfully incarcerated.

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026

Almost rigid with determination, she does my hair and nails and makeup, fingers flying swiftly to compensate for her absent teammates.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

Madueke goes into central midfield and Bellingham compensates by defending out wide.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

His payment of $74,330 will go into the Lacey Act Reward Fund, which compensates tipsters who report wildlife crimes, federal authorities said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2026

In other words, when incoming visual signals are reduced, the brain compensates by pulling stored images and experiences from memory.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 15, 2026

And he compensates for Mr. Sanders’s silence by having “hundreds of hours of conversation with dozens of individuals”—including Bernie’s loquacious older brother, Larry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026

Likewise, insurance policies with broad coverage which compensates for any mishap are apt to be cheaper in the long run than insurance for a particular disease or a particular trip.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

The state's premier Chris Minns said on Saturday: "We want those guns handed in, compensated for and safely destroyed."

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Murrill’s opposition doesn’t necessarily mean that Brooks and other exonerees won’t eventually be compensated.

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026

“This agreement with Merlin ensures participating artists are credited and compensated, and that every creation drives listeners back to the original work,” Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s global head of music, said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

“Uncertainties are piling up,” he noted, and the bond market expects to get compensated for it.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026

A sweetness gathered in his breast as he saw the room being turned into a shambles, a sweet moment of triumph that compensated for all the other lousy things, his terrible marks, the black box.

From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

"The nervous system adopts a safety-first approach, compensating for age-related changes by favoring stability over performance," says Associate Professor Immink, Lead of the Active Lives Research Program within the Caring Futures Institute at Flinders University.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

It is compensating for the stagnant auto market by making power-chip solutions and optical cable for data centers.

From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026

“Creators make their living generating content. The campaign believes in compensating people for their time and work product and has paid creators to generate content,” Liao said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026

A monetary framework that lets falling production costs show up as lower prices for consumers, rather than offsetting them with compensating stimulus, has intellectual support and is worth discussing.

From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026

The Captain seated himself carefully, and compensating for the tremor in his hands, slowly lifted his own cup to his mouth and took a long sip.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023