These words refer to the assuaging of unhappiness or grief. Console suggests the effort of one person to mitigate the serious grief felt by another: on hand to console him through the whole of his mourning. The word may specifically suggest the attempt to make up for a loss by offering something in its place: They tried to console him for losing the prize by taking him to a theatre. This making up for a loss may occur within the loser’s mind: She was consoled to think that she at least had an understanding husband to turn to. Condole is almost obsolete but, when used, is a great deal more formal than console , almost to the point of sounding fusty and pompous; it does give the specific meaning of actively grieving with someone else: parents who condoled with each other over the loss of their child. The word is now most used in the noun form, condolence , for formal expressions of regret.

Comfort and cheer up are less formal than condole and even than console ; they also can apply to less serious unhappiness. Comfort , of the two, has the wider range of use, it suggest a tactful and understanding ministering to someone who is unhappy: She comforted the grieving child with a tight embrace. This word can also refer to thoughts within the mourner’s mind that mitigate grief: comforted to know that everything had been carried out exactly as his friend would have wished. Cheer up is decidedly limited to active attempts to ease someone’s mind over a less extreme unhappiness: She knew that if he failed to get the job she would have to exert every wile she possessed in order to cheer him up ; a bubbling manner that cheered up the most despondent men in the ward.

Solace is very formal and might sound precious as a substitute for the more direct comfort ; the word can suggest a tender intensity of fellow-feeling: The chaplain’s attempts to solace the wounded and dying during the battle. Sympathize in this context suggests an understanding and attentive manner to the needs of the grief-stricken. The word implies a more passive role than these other words: sympathizing silently with the patient’s rambling accounts of his many ills; all those who sympathized with us in our bereavement.