Condolences

Condolences are an expression of sympathy to someone who has experienced grief arising from death, deep mental anguish, or misfortune.

When individuals condole, or offer their condolences to a particular situation or person, they are offering active, conscious support of that person or activity. This is often expressed as a "sorry." Often, the English language expression "my condolences" will be in a context, such as death of a friend's loved one, in which the one offering condolences is communicating a feeling of pity towards the unfortunate party. But condolences can also be offered by friends or supporters of circumstances that are legally debatable, such as the justifiability of a domestic abuse victim's killing her/his abusive partner. In this case, some might offer their condolences to the victim, whereas others might not.

There are various ways of expressing condolences to the victims. Examples include donating money to the charity nominated by the person who has just died, writing in a condolences book or supporting the friends and family of the loved one by making meals and partially looking after them in times of need.