MEANING
To express sympathy to someone over trouble, loss, or disappointment.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- commiserate with someone
- commiserate over a loss
On the page
The neighbors came to commiserate with her over the failed harvest.
They commiserated over tea without pretending the problem was solved.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- commiserate
- Past tense
- commiserated
- Past participle
- commiserated
- Present participle
- commiserating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- commiserate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are commiserating
- Present perfect
- have/has commiserated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been commiserating
- Past
- commiserated
- Past continuous
- was/were commiserating
- Past perfect
- had commiserated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been commiserating
- Future
- will commiserate
- Future continuous
- will be commiserating
- Future perfect
- will have commiserated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been commiserating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: commiserate; commiserates; commiserated; commiserated; commiserating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: commiserates.
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