compassionate

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adjective com·pas·sion·ate \ kəm-ˈpa-sh(ə-)nət \

Definition of compassionate

1 :having or showing compassion :sympathetic

a compassionate friend

a compassionate smile

2 :granted because of unusual distressing circumstances affecting an individual —used of some military privileges (such as leave)

The soldier was granted compassionate leave following the death of his father.

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compassionately

adverb

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compassionateness

noun

See compassionate defined for English-language learners

Examples of compassionate in a Sentence

a compassionate person by nature
a compassionate smile made the refugees feel a little better

Recent Examples of compassionate from the Web

Adapted from The Self-Love Experiment: Fifteen Principles for Becoming More Kind, Compassionate, and Accepting of Yourself by Shannon Kaiser, an international life coach and speaker.

— shannon kaiser, Health.com, "8 Empowering Life Lessons I Wish Every Woman Knew," 29 Aug. 2017
The experience made me stronger, more honest, more compassionate and curious.

— dave holmes, Esquire, "Another Day, Another Trump Nominee, Another Bigoted Viewpoint," 21 Aug. 2017
The local correctional services department said that Pistorius applied for and was granted compassionate leave for a few hours.

— chris chavez, SI.com, "Report: Oscar Pistorius Allowed Out Of Jail To Attend Grandmother's Funeral," 17 Aug. 2017
Although Heather was a caring and compassionate person, so are a lot of you.

— jay willis, GQ, "Susan Bro delivered a powerful eulogy for her daughter in Charlottesville.," 16 Aug. 2017
But Trump did not promise his supporters a compassionate immigration policy founded on humanism.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Are Employers Using Trump’s ICE Agents to Intimidate Workers?," 4 Aug. 2017
Asking in a compassionate voice will help their comfort level.

— aric jenkins, Fortune, "What to Do When Somebody’s Sick on Your Flight," 3 Aug. 2017
So please accept this round of applause for your self-awareness and your compassionate attention to your new family.

— carolyn hax, Detroit Free Press, "Give yourself, and new family, time to settle in, connect," 27 July 2017
But the point here as that Daenerys and Jon both have similar, compassionate ruling styles.

— joanna robinson, HWD, "Game of Thrones: 8 Easter Eggs, References, and Callbacks You Might Have Missed in “Stormborn”," 25 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'compassionate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.