compassion

com·pas·sion

noun \kəm-ˈpa-shən\

Definition of COMPASSION

: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it

— com·pas·sion·less \-ləs\ adjective

Examples of COMPASSION

1. He felt compassion for the lost child.
2. She shows compassion to the sick.
3. She had the compassion to offer help when it was needed most.
4. Take away all the qualities that make for a genuinely good father—wisdom, compassion, even temper, selflessness—and what you have left is Homer Simpson with his pure, mindless, dogged devotion to his family. —Paul A. Cantor, Gilligan Unbound, 2001
5. … he read every “doctor book” he could reach … , learning fine secrets and curing us with steams and fruit compotes and dexterous rubs and, above all, with bedside compassion. —Gwendolyn Brooks, Booklist, 15 Oct. 1993
6. The novel addresses at every point in its structural edifice, and lingers over in every fissure, the slave's body and personality: the way it speaks, what passion legal or illicit it is prey to, what pain it can endure, what limits, if any, there are to its suffering, what possibilities there are for forgiveness, compassion, love. —Toni Morrison, Playing In The Dark, 1992
7. I can't write songs about what's wrong with a country that seems to lack compassion for pain and suffering … —Bonnie Raitt, quoted in Entertainment Weekly, 23 Aug. 1991
8. Like the best of the new detectives, V. I. and Kinsey, she is a woman of wit and gravity, compassion and toughness, a heroine worth spending time with. —Susan Isaacs, New York Times Book Review, 3 Nov. 1991

Origin of COMPASSION

Middle English, from Anglo-French or Late Latin; Anglo-French, from Late Latin compassion-, compassio, from compati to sympathize, from Latin com- + pati to bear, suffer — more at patient

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to COMPASSION

Synonyms

commiseration, sympathy, feeling

Antonyms

callousness, coldheartedness, hard-heartedness, heartlessness

Related Words

condolence, regret; humaneness, humanity, kindheartedness, kindliness, kindness, mercy, pity, ruth, softheartedness, warmheartedness; affinity, empathy, rapport, sensitivity, understanding; altruism, benevolence, benignity, bigheartedness, charity, generosity, goodwill, humanitarianism, largeheartedness, largesse (also largess), magnanimity, philanthropy

Near Antonyms

indifference, insensitivity, unconcern; cruelty, harshness, inhumanity; animosity, antipathy, dislike, hatred, hostility

See Synonym Discussion at pity

Rhymes with COMPASSION

Circassian, dispassion, high fashion, impassion, refashion, Wakashan