Synonyms for compassionate
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Sympathetic — having, feeling or showing compassion (to or toward someone)
sympathetic, empathetic, humane, gentle, gracious, kind, sensitive, charitable, tender, sympathizing, sympathising UK, mild, kindly, benevolent, benign, benignant dated
2. Merciful — inviting or asking for pity
merciful, forgiving, piteous, pitiful, lenient, pitiable, clement, ruthful, forbearing, compassionable dated
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Having, feeling or showing compassion (to or toward someone).
The Compassionate, the All-Compassionate
- adj. 2
Inviting or asking for pity.
Related words
- Word family
- compassionately compassionateness
Choose the right word
The compassionate man sympathizes with and desires to relieve actual suffering, while one who is humane would forestall and prevent the suffering which he sees to be possible.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- gentle A noble man by woman's gentle word may oft be led.
- sympathetic Mary told me that she thought Tom was sympathetic.
- humane Isn't that the most humane punishment for criminals?
- empathetic Do you consider yourself an empathetic person?
- avuncular His avuncular mien endears him to small children.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| compassionate | rising | |
| gentle | rising | |
| sympathetic | steady | |
| humane | falling | |
| empathetic | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- kind1, mild1
- 6 letters
- gentle2, tender2, kindly2, humane2, benign2
- 7 letters
- clement2, pitiful3, lenient3, piteous, ruthful
- 8 letters
- gracious2, merciful3, pitiable4, heartful
- 9 letters
- sensitive3, forgiving3, avuncular4, benignant
- 10 letters
- charitable4, benevolent4, empathetic4, forbearing
- 11 letters
- sympathetic4
- 12 letters
- sympathizing4, sympathising
- 14 letters
- compassionable
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (gentle2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- compatissant
- Español
- compasivo
- Català
- compassiu