condole

American  

[kuhn-dohl] / kənˈdoʊl /

verb (used without object)

condoled, condoling

1. to express sympathy with a person who is suffering sorrow, misfortune, or grief (usually followed bywith ).

   to condole with a friend whose father has died.

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verb (used with object)

condoled, condoling

1. Obsolete. to grieve with.

condole British  

/ kənˈdəʊl /

verb

1. to express sympathy with someone in grief, pain, etc

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Other Word Forms

• condolatory adjective
• condoler noun
• condolingly adverb
• uncondolatory adjective
• uncondoled adjective
• uncondoling adjective

Etymology

Origin of condole

1580–90; < Late Latin condolēre, equivalent to con- con- + dolēre to feel pain; akin to dolor

Explanation

When you condole, you express your sadness at someone's death. Sending a "condolence" card is one way to condole with someone who has lost a loved one. When my dog died, I found that other dog owners were more likely to condole with me, since those friends who never had a pet had a harder time understanding how profound my loss was. There are many ways to condole when someone needs comfort after having suffered a loss. You can send a card, you can visit, bring food, or just sit with them as they grieve. If you've lost someone too, then you condole by showing empathy. If not, then you can condole by just lending an ear.

Example Sentences

There will be time to collectively mourn, condole and rebuild, when they no longer are, when all communities are safe.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 10, 2025

I will definitely miss him and I condole with his family, his BBC fans and the BBC family.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2014

Last week Mrs. McGuire, owner of 40 dogs herself, hurried to Long Island to condole with Poopchin and the Pekes.

From Time Magazine Archive

We had assembled to condole with a martyr.

From Time Magazine Archive

The rat râjâ entered first to condole with his protector on his misfortune.

From Tales of the Sun or Folklore of Southern India by Kingscote, Mrs. Howard