Compassion
What it means
Concern for another's suffering joined with a desire to ease it.
Reach for it when praising humane attention that is moved toward help
Compassion led the examiner to offer a pause without lowering the safety standard.
Words to choose between 7
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| warm |
|
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
-
everyday
Fits when sorrow or concern is felt for someone's difficulty
Careful Sympathy can remain distant and may feel patronizing to the recipient.
-
warm
Fits when benevolent treatment is the broad quality
Careful Kindness can be cheerful or courteous without responding to suffering.
-
warm
Fits when gentle affection shapes the response
Careful Tenderness may be intimate and can miss practical, resolute help.
-
professional
Fits when understanding or sharing another person's perspective is central
Careful Empathy can exist without kindness, agreement, or any wish to help.
-
formal
Fits when someone with power chooses to reduce punishment or harm
Careful Mercy assumes authority over another and is too narrow for equal relationships.
-
literary
Fits when shared human identification gives the concern warmth
Careful The phrase sounds old-fashioned and does not itself imply action.
-
literary
Fits when humane fellow feeling resists cruelty
Careful Humanity is broad and can name all people rather than a specific response.
Opposites 3
- cruelty
- indifference
- callousness
Common phrases 3
-
show compassion
The judge could show compassion while keeping the process fair.
-
deep compassion
Her deep compassion became a practical plan for respite care.
-
compassion for
Compassion for injured wildlife motivated safer road barriers.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Dvortygirl, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated