condolence means comfort, support or sympathy. It carries an Arena rating of 1807, earned across 42 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, condolence ranks #695 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,581 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,699 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,890 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
condolence is pronounced /kənˈdoʊləns/.
Why “condolence” is a great word
CONDOLENCE — [Noun] A formal expression of sympathy, especially one offered to those grieving a death. From the Latin condolēre, from con- ("with, together") and dolēre ("to grieve, feel pain"). First attested in English c. 1600. Unlike "sympathy," which is the interior feeling of pity, or "consolation," which seeks to comfort and alleviate, a condolence is the outward, ritualized act of acknowledging shared sorrow. It is the weight of a handwritten card on a mantle, the necessary pressure of a hand on a shoulder, and the halting script of a message that can never say enough—a fragile testament that grief, though solitary, need not be entirely alone in the gathering cold.
Etymology
From condole + -ence, or from Middle French condoléance, or formed from the root of Latin condoleō (“to sympathize”), from con- (“together, with”) and doleō (“to hurt, suffer, have pain”).
noun
- Comfort, support or sympathy.e.g.“There was not much to do after the accident but offer what condolence I could.”
- An expression of comfort, support, or sympathy offered to the family and friends of somebody who has died.e.g.“I sent her a card expressing my condolences after her mother passed away.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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