commiseration

C3O1M3M3I1S1E1R1A1T1I1O1N1

noun

The act of commiserating; sorrow for the hardships or afflictions of another; pity; compassion.

RareScrabble 19

Meanings

nouncommiseration (countable and uncountable, plural commiserations)

plural commiserations

  1. countableuncountableThe act of commiserating; sorrow for the hardships or afflictions of another; pity; compassion.

    The death of anti-feminist activist Phyllis Schlafly on Monday brought commiserations from the GOP ticket. Donald Trump tweeted that she was “truly great.” Mike Pence called her “the First Lady of the Conservative Movement.” Pence wasn’t exaggerating.

    2016 September 6, Timothy Stanley, “How Phyllis Schlafly gave us Sarah Palin”, in CNN
    2 more examples

    But her assertion soon proved its truth. That very evening I met both the Duc de Joyeuse and Mademoiselle Guerchy;—a slight embarrassment on his part, a little air of triumphant impertinence on hers, and an affected but insolent commiseration from Mademoiselle de Guise, told the whole.

    1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 197

    The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.

    1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

    Synonyms: fellow feeling, mercy, bowels, compassion, empathy, fellow feeling, mercy, pity

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe act of commiserating; sorrow for the hardships or afflictions of another; pity; compassion.

More synonyms by meaning

nouna feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others

nounan expression of sympathy with another's grief

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Frenchcommisération
  2. Englishcommiseration

From Middle French commisération.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian съчувствие
  • съчувствие (săčuvstvie)act of commiserating
Catalan commiseració
  • commiseracióact of commiserating
Chinese Mandarin 怜悯, 同情
  • 怜悯 (liánmǐn)act of commiserating
  • 同情 (tóngqíng)act of commiserating
Dutch medelijden, medeleven
  • medelijdenact of commiserating
  • medelevenact of commiserating
French commisération
  • commisérationact of commiserating
German Mitleid, Mitgefühl
  • Mitleidact of commiserating
  • Mitgefühlact of commiserating
Norwegian Bokmål medynk, medlitenhet
  • medynkact of commiserating
  • medlitenhetact of commiserating
Polish litość, współczucie
  • litośćact of commiserating
  • współczucieact of commiserating
  • żalact of commiserating
Portuguese comiseração
  • comiseraçãoact of commiserating
Romanian compătimire, compasiune
  • compătimireact of commiserating
  • compasiuneact of commiserating
  • comizerațieact of commiserating
Spanish conmiseración
  • conmiseraciónact of commiserating
Swedish medlidande
  • medlidandeact of commiserating

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with commiseration

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

commiseration. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commiseration

MLA

“commiseration.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commiseration. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “commiseration,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commiseration.

Source: commiseration on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.