rachmones means mercy, compassion, pity. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
Why “rachmones” is a great word
A deep, active, and empathetic sense of mercy or compassion, rooted in shared humanity and the understanding of suffering. Borrowed from Yiddish רחמנות (rakhmones, “mercy”), from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew רחמנות (rachmanut, “mercy”), from the root רחם (r-ch-m, “to have compassion”). Unlike “sympathy,” which acknowledges suffering from a distance, or “leniency,” which is a formal remission of severity, rachmones is the visceral, culturally-suffused pull toward kindness. It is the unasked-for bowl of soup left at a neighbor’s door, the extra potato slipped into the bowl of a hungry stranger, the shared silence over a cup of tea that holds more than words could—the quiet insistence on seeing shared fragility in a cold world.
Etymology
Borrowed from Yiddish רחמנות (rakhmones, “mercy”).
noun
- Mercy, compassion, pity.“We all haven’t been lucky enough to have been born Jews, you know. So a little rachmones on the less fortunate, okay?”