commiserate
/kə'mizəriet/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To feel or express sympathy, compassion, or pity for someone's misfortune or suffering. It involves sharing in another person's feelings of sadness or disappointment.
Usage
- The verb "commiserate" is typically used with the preposition "with" when referring to the person whose misfortune you share.
- Example: We commiserated with her after she lost the competition.
- It can also be used transitively, followed by the object of the misfortune (e.g., a loss, a situation), though this is less common.
- Example: They commiserated her terrible loss.
Examples
- Verb:
- The whole team gathered to commiserate with their captain after the narrow defeat.
- I called to commiserate; I know exactly how stressful moving house can be.
- Friends commiserated over their shared difficulties in finding a job.
Advanced Usage
- "Commiserate over/on something": To express shared sympathy about a particular situation or problem.
- The colleagues commiserated over the sudden cancellation of their long-planned project.
- Used in a slightly informal or ironic context to share mild disappointment.
- Let's go get a coffee and commiserate about our awful Monday mornings.
Variants and Related Words
- Commiserative (adjective): Expressing or feeling commiseration.
- She gave him a commiserative pat on the shoulder.
- Commiseratingly (adverb): In a commiserating manner.
- He nodded commiseratingly as I told my story.
- Commiseration (noun): The feeling or expression of sympathy and sorrow for another's misfortune.
- A letter of commiseration was sent to the family.
Synonyms
- Sympathize: To feel or express compassion.
- Condole: To express sympathetic sorrow, often used in contexts of bereavement.
- Empathize: To understand and share the feelings of another.
Antonyms
- Envy: To desire what someone else has.
- Gloat: To observe or think about something with triumphant and often malicious satisfaction.
Related Phrases
- To offer one's commiserations: A formal phrase for expressing sympathy.
- Please offer my commiserations to your brother on not getting the promotion.
Verb
- to feel or express sympathy or compassion