compensation
Americannoun
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compensations
plural
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the act or state of compensating, as by rewarding someone for service or by making up for someone's loss, damage, or injury by giving the injured party an appropriate benefit.
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the state of being compensated or rewarded in this way.
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something given or received as an equivalent for services, debt, loss, injury, suffering, lack, etc.; indemnity.
The insurance company paid him $2000 as compensation for the loss of his car.
- Synonyms:
- indemnification, satisfaction, requital, reparation, amends, payment, recompense
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Biology. the improvement of any defect by the excessive development or action of another structure or organ of the same structure.
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Psychology. a mechanism by which an individual attempts to make up for some real or imagined deficiency of personality or behavior by developing or stressing another aspect of the personality or by substituting a different form of behavior.
noun
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the act or process of making amends for something
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something given as reparation for loss, injury, etc; indemnity
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the automatic movements made by the body to maintain balance
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the attempt to conceal or offset one's shortcomings by the exaggerated exhibition of qualities regarded as desirable
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biology abnormal growth and increase in size in one organ in response to the removal or inactivation of another
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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noncompensationnoun
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precompensationnoun
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subcompensationnoun
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compensationaladjective
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procompensationadjective
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subcompensationaladjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of compensation
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English compensacioun, from Latin compēnsātiōn-, stem of compēnsātiō “a balancing”; equivalent to compensate + -ion
Explanation
Compensation means "making up for something." When a restaurant offers you a free dessert as compensation for messing up your dinner order, the hope is that you will leave happy (and refrain from writing a negative review online). Compensation can also be money, a payment meant to give someone a fair exchange for their effort and output. In fact, the word comes from the Latin word compensat-, meaning "weighed against." If you receive fair compensation for your work, the money is equal to your time and effort. In other words, the scale is balanced.
Vocabulary lists containing compensation
The Bill of Rights
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"The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs
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"The Monkey's Paw," Vocabulary from the short story
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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:
Duffy was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £565 in compensation to his neighbour.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Fewer lawyers pursuing workers’ compensation cases has led to diminished financial prospects for people injured on the job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
It was the bond market that made its feelings clear: “The market didn’t like what it heard, with the curve sharply steepening and breakeven inflation compensation rising as the chair spoke.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
The US acting attorney general said Sunday he had reached an agreement with lawmakers and issued an order officially scrapping a $1.8-billion compensation fund that has led to a standoff over his Senate confirmation.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
It was, however, a small compensation, and when after several months my money ran out and I was looking again for a job, I found her exceedingly irritating to listen to.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
But all the compensations, all the progress anyway.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
Edinburgh Employment Tribunal ruled that PC Jones should be awarded compensations of £24,800 and PC Tunnock should receive £23,824.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2025
Pratt and Whitney, a subsidiary of RTX, booked a $2.48 billion operating loss in the reported quarter related to engine recalls and compensations to airlines.
From Reuters ● Oct. 24, 2023
Naqvi said the compensations would be completed within the next 48 hours and said that authorities have begun to repair the churches.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 21, 2023
Truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few compensations.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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.
