commiserate
/kəˈmɪzəreɪt
/verb [no object]
1Express or feel sympathy or pity; sympathize: she went over to commiserate with Rose on her unfortunate circumstances...
- They congratulate you on the streets after a victory and commiserate with you, or ask you what happened when you lose.
- She was to go up to the house when she came home to commiserate with them.
- He was the ‘unhappiest man in the land ‘, a singer you didn't so much listen to as commiserate with.
Synonyms
offer sympathy to, be sympathetic to, express sympathy for, send condolences to, offer condolences to, condole with, sympathize with, empathize with, feel pity for, feel sorry for, feel for, be moved by, mourn for, sorrow for, grieve for;
comfort, console, solace, give solace to;
one's heart goes out to
archaic compassion, compassionate
1.1 [with object] archaic Feel or express pity for (someone): she did not exult in her rival’s fall, but, on the contrary, commiserated her...
- Just as I had all the bar-room politicians agreeing wholeheartedly and commiserating me with a dram or two, a fellow angler appeared and, with great flourish, slapped four 10-pounders on the bar.
- If I stay out too late at the pub, I can always tell my future wife I was at your house commiserating you and your marital statue.
- Neighbours commiserated her descent and her miserable sentence, but she saw it otherwise.
Derivatives
commiserative
/ adjective ...- A few other letters to Mary and Elizabeth are commiserative on the deaths of Eleanor Gates Boyd and on Henry Queen.
- My lack of comprehension, and the fact that I wasn't wearing a wedding ring - something she acknowledged with a pointed finger and commiserative sigh - seemed to confirm her suspicions.
- And yet this sad figure is held up as a beacon of commiserative hope for women?
Origin
Late 16th century: from Latin commiserat- 'commiserated', from the verb commiserari, from com- 'with' + miserari 'to lament' (from miser 'wretched').