What does condole mean?
Condole is a formal verb meaning to express sympathy or sorrow to another person, most often in response to a death, bereavement, or significant misfortune. It is used almost exclusively with the preposition 'with', as in 'friends came to condole with the grieving family'. Derived from the Latin 'dolere', meaning to feel pain or grief — the same root that gives us 'dolorous' and 'condolence' — the word carries an inherently sombre and respectful tone. It belongs chiefly to formal contexts: letters of condolence, obituaries, official tributes, and solemn conversation. Although still current in both British and American English, the verb has become less common than its noun relative 'condolence'; today people are more likely to offer condolences than to condole. Nevertheless, it remains a precise and dignified word for the act of sharing another's sorrow rather than attempting to remove it.
verbTo express sympathy or sorrow to someone, typically over a death, misfortune, or loss. Usually used in the phrase 'to condole with' a person.
- To express sympathy or sorrow to someone, especially over a bereavement or serious misfortune; usually in the phrase 'condole with'.
"Friends and neighbours called to condole with the widow after the funeral."
"Colleagues gathered to condole with her on the sudden loss of her father."
"The ambassador wrote to condole with the families affected by the disaster."
Condole shares its Latin root 'dolere' (to grieve) with the word 'dolorous' — so when you condole, you are literally speaking grief together.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of condole
Condole comes from Latin 'dolere', meaning to suffer or feel pain, combined with the prefix 'com-/con-', indicating shared feeling — literally, to grieve together. The word entered English in the late sixteenth century, likely via Italian 'condogliere' or directly from Latin roots. Its noun derivative, condolence, followed shortly after and has become far more widely used in everyday speech. Cognates from the same Latin root include 'dolorous' and 'doleful', both carrying the sense of sorrow.
Related word forms
How condole is actually used
Formal in register. The verb almost always appears with the preposition 'with' — one condoles WITH a person, not simply 'condoles a person'. In modern usage the noun form 'condolences' is far more common than the verb itself.
Easily confused with condole
To console is to comfort and cheer someone directly, while to condole is to express sympathy or sorrow alongside them.
The two are near-synonyms, but condole more specifically conveys formal expressions of sympathy for bereavement, while commiserate covers shared sorrow over any misfortune.