consolar

To console or comfort someone who is upset or grieving ("la consolé después del funeral"). It focuses specifically on easing someone's sadness, distinct from apoyar (support in a broader, ongoing sense) or animar (to cheer someone up/encourage).

• Traté de consolarla después de la mala noticia. — I tried to console her after the bad news.
• Nada podía consolarlo por la pérdida de su perro. — Nothing could console him for the loss of his dog.
• Se consolaron mutuamente durante el duelo. — They comforted each other during the mourning period.

Confused with animar — consolar is for genuine grief or sadness (comforting), while animar is for lifting someone's mood or encouraging them before a challenge; they aren't interchangeable.

Often confused with animar.

• expression "Mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos" — A well-documented traditional Spanish refrán built on consuelo, the noun form of consolar — it criticizes the idea that shared misfortune is genuinely comforting; older versions of the saying ("mal de muchos, consuelo es") originally meant the opposite, that shared hardship really does ease it.