- the act of consoling or state of being consoled; solace
- a person or thing that is a source of comfort in a time of suffering, grief, disappointment, etc
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
con•so•la•tion /ˌkɑnsəˈleɪʃən/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- the act of consoling;
the state of being consoled:[uncountable]Write a letter of consolation to the widow. - someone or something that consoles: [uncountable]It won't be much consolation, but you did win the lawsuit.[countable]I had one consolation: we still had our family together.
con•so•la•tion
(kon′sə lā′shən),USA pronunciation n.
- the act of consoling;
comfort;
solace. - the state of being consoled.
- someone or something that consoles:His faith was a consolation during his troubles. Her daughters are a consolation to her.
- Sporta game, match, or race for tournament entrants eliminated before the final round, as a basketball game between the losing semifinalists.
- Latin consōlātiōn- (stem of consōlātiō), equivalent. to consōlāt(us), past participle of consōlārī (con- con- + sōlā-, stem of sōlārī to comfort, + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion; see solace
- Anglo-French)
- Middle English consolacioun (1325–75
- 1. relief, succor, help, support, cheer.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
consolation /ˌkɒnsəˈleɪʃən/ n
'consolation' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):