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Compassion: alternatives and connections

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26,102 words currently have published synonym-style alternatives
90,593 searchable synonym connections
350,924 published thesaurus relationships of every type
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Compassion

Literally, suffering with another; a sensation of sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another; pity; commiseration.

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50 useful connections shown 9 reviewed relationships and 41 broader connections.
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Reviewed alternatives and contrasts

These links were deliberately created. Use the interchangeability score and guidance to judge whether a word will work in your sentence.

Narrower term 3

Mellowness 76% connected

Quality or state of being mellow.

oewn 2023 0% interchangeable

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

Definition Compare both words
Mercy 76% connected

Forbearance to inflict harm under circumstances of provocation, when one has the power to inflict it; compassionate treatment of an offender or adver…

oewn 2023 0% interchangeable

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

Definition Compare both words
Tenderness 76% connected

The quality or state of being tender (in any sense of the adjective).

oewn 2023 0% interchangeable

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a narrower or more specific lexical category.

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Broader term 2

Mercy 76% connected

Forbearance to inflict harm under circumstances of provocation, when one has the power to inflict it; compassionate treatment of an offender or adver…

oewn 2023 0% interchangeable

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a broader lexical category for at least one sense.

Definition Compare both words
Sympathy 76% connected

Feeling corresponding to that which another feels; the quality of being affected by the affection of another, with feelings correspondent in kind, if…

oewn 2023 0% interchangeable

Open English WordNet identifies the related term as a broader lexical category for at least one sense.

Definition Compare both words

Derivationally related 2

Compassionate 74% connected

Having a temper or disposition to pity; sympathetic; merciful.

oewn 2023 15% interchangeable

Open English WordNet records a derivational relationship between these word forms.

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Compassionate 74% connected

Having a temper or disposition to pity; sympathetic; merciful.

oewn 2023 15% interchangeable

Open English WordNet records a derivational relationship between these word forms.

Definition Compare both words

Synonym 2

Compassionateness 92% connected

The quality or state of being compassionate.

oewn 2023 68% interchangeable

Open English WordNet places these words in at least one shared synset. They share a lexicalised sense, but context, register and collocation should still be checked before substitution.

Definition Compare both words
Pity 92% connected

Piety.

oewn 2023 68% interchangeable

Open English WordNet places these words in at least one shared synset. They share a lexicalised sense, but context, register and collocation should still be checked before substitution.

Definition Compare both words
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Words from the same subject

These terms belong to the same specialist field or topic. They help you explore the subject, but they are not automatically synonyms.

Care noun · 86% connection

a cause for feeling concern; "his major care was the illness of his wife"

Used in the same subject area: Emotion and tone, Environmental science, Negative emotions, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
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Quality noun · 85% connection

an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained" - Shakespeare

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Water noun · 85% connection

a liquid necessary for the life of most animals and plants; "he asked for a drink of water"

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
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Wetland noun · 85% connection

a low area where the land is saturated with water

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Empathy noun · 85% connection

understanding and entering into another's feelings

Used in the same subject area: Emotion and tone, Negative emotions, Empathy and compassion.
Definition Compare
Convention noun · 85% connection

orthodoxy as a consequence of being conventional

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
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Conventionalism noun · 85% connection

orthodoxy as a consequence of being conventional

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
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Conventionality noun · 85% connection

orthodoxy as a consequence of being conventional

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Electricity noun · 85% connection

keen and shared excitement; "the stage crackled with electricity whenever she was on it"

Used in the same subject area: Emotion and tone, Environmental science, Negative emotions.
Definition Compare
Fertility noun · 85% connection

the property of producing abundantly and sustaining vigorous and luxuriant growth; "he praised the richness of the soil"; "weeds lovel…

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Prolificacy noun · 85% connection

the property of producing abundantly and sustaining vigorous and luxuriant growth; "he praised the richness of the soil"; "weeds lovel…

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Rankness noun · 85% connection

the property of producing abundantly and sustaining vigorous and luxuriant growth; "he praised the richness of the soil"; "weeds lovel…

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Richness noun · 85% connection

the property of producing abundantly and sustaining vigorous and luxuriant growth; "he praised the richness of the soil"; "weeds lovel…

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Ability noun · 84% connection

the quality of being able to perform; a quality that permits or facilitates achievement or accomplishment

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Accuracy noun · 84% connection

(mathematics) the number of significant figures given in a number; "the atomic clock enabled scientists to measure time with much grea…

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Bad noun · 84% connection

that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency; "take the bad with the good"

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
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Believability noun · 84% connection

the quality of being believable or trustworthy

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
Definition Compare
Fenland noun · 84% connection

low-lying wet land with grassy vegetation; usually is a transition zone between land and water; "thousands of acres of marshland"; "th…

Used in the same subject area: Environmental science, Pollution, Water and aquatic environments.
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Words connected by meaning

Their definitions overlap or refer to similar ideas. Use these to widen your search, then compare the exact meanings.

Alas interj. · 78% connection

An exclamation expressive of sorrow, pity, or apprehension of evil; -- in old writers, sometimes followed by day or white; alas the da…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Anadiplosis noun · 78% connection

A repetition of the last word or any prominent word in a sentence or clause, at the beginning of the next, with an adjunct idea; as, "…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Atonement noun · 78% connection

Satisfaction or reparation made by giving an equivalent for an injury, or by doing of suffering that which will be received in satisfa…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Bemoan verb · 78% connection

To express deep grief for by moaning; to express sorrow for; to lament; to bewail; to pity or sympathize with.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Commiserate verb · 78% connection

To feel sorrow, pain, or regret for; to pity.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Commiseration noun · 78% connection

a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others; "the blind are too often objects of pity"

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Commiserative adjective · 78% connection

Feeling or expressing commiseration.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Consensual verb · 78% connection

Excited or caused by sensation, sympathy, or reflex action, and not by conscious volition; as, consensual motions.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Discomfort verb · 78% connection

Want of comfort; uneasiness, mental or physical; disturbance of peace; inquietude; pain; distress; sorrow.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Distress noun · 78% connection

Extreme pain or suffering; anguish of body or mind; as, to suffer distress from the gout, or from the loss of friends.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Endurance noun · 78% connection

The act of bearing or suffering; a continuing under pain or distress without resistance, or without being overcome; sufferance; patien…

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
Evil adjective · 78% connection

Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous; as, evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days.

Its definition shares important concepts with this word: literally, suffering, sensation, sorrow, excited.
Definition Compare
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