compassion

\kɔ̃.pɑ.sjɔ̃\

/\kɔ̃.pɑ.sjɔ̃\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“compassion” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #8,521. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,521
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sentiment qui nous fait partager la souffrance d’autrui (par intuition ou connaissance de cette souffrance-là).

Corpus desk

Index FR-compassion · compassion · French

compassion · rank #8,521 · 13 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,521
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH commençait

Nearest frequency peer: commençait (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « compassion »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « compassion » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

compassion vs compression
82% similar
compassion vs commission
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for compassion
PropertyValue
Headwordcompassion
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔ̃.pɑ.sjɔ̃\
Letters10
Frequency rank#8,521
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « compassion »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.compassionse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « commençait » (#8,520), « composants » (#8,522), « concessions » (#8,523). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « compassion » est au #8,521. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around compassion (IPA \kɔ̃.pɑ.sjɔ̃\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,521 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for compassion, with forms such as "ccompassion", "cmopassion", and "comapssion". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "compression", "commission", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is compassion, spelled C-O-M-P-A-S-S-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sentiment qui nous fait partager la souffrance d’autrui (par intuition ou connaissance de cette souffrance-là).
  2. 2
    Pitié.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how compassion appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Pendant qu’Isaac se tenait ainsi banni de la société présente comme son peuple l’est des nations, cherchant en vain un regard bienveillant ou un siège pour s’asseoir, le pèlerin qui était près de la cheminée en eut compassion et lui céda sa place en disant : […]
  2. Puis elle avait pour son mari cette compassion voisine du mépris qui flétrit à la longue tous les sentiments.

Synonyms

commisérationdécentrationempathiemiséricordepitiéapitoiementsympathiecontagion affectivecontagion émotionnelle

Antonyms

schadenfreude

This word in other languages

compassion(English)compasión(Español)Mitgefühl(Deutsch)compaixão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccompassion
  • cmopassion
  • comapssion
  • commpassion
  • compasion
  • compasison
  • compassino
  • compassionn
  • compassoin
  • comppassion
  • compsasion
  • copmassion
  • ocmpassion

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of compassion - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ccompassion1cmopassion2comapssion2commpassion1compasion1compasison2compassino2compassionn1
Edit distance from "compassion"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "compassion"?
"compassion" is spelled C-O-M-P-A-S-S-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ̃.pɑ.sjɔ̃\.
What does "compassion" mean?
As a noun, "compassion" means: Sentiment qui nous fait partager la souffrance d’autrui (par intuition ou connaissance de cette souffrance-là).
What words are commonly confused with "compassion"?
"compassion" is commonly confused with "compression", "commission". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "compassion"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "compassion" is \kɔ̃.pɑ.sjɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "compassion" come from?
"compassion" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "compassion", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

commençait#8,520composants#8,522collectifs#8,518demoiselle#8,527

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

détendre13 variantsappliquent13 variantsviolentes13 variantsislamiste13 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list