sympathy

English Online Dictionary. What means sympathy‎? What does sympathy mean?

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French sympathie, from Late Latin sympathīa (“feeling in common”), from Ancient Greek σῠμπᾰ́θειᾰ (sumpátheia, “fellow feeling”), from σῠμπᾰθής (sumpathḗs, “affected by like feelings; exerting mutual influence, interacting”) +‎ -ῐᾰ (-ia, “-y”, nominal suffix). Equivalent to sym- (“acting or considered together”) +‎ -pathy (“feeling”). Displaced native Old English efnþrōwung (literally “suffering with or together”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪm.pəθ.i/
• Rhymes: -ɪmpəθi

Noun

sympathy (countable and uncountable, plural sympathies)

2. A feeling of pity or sorrow for the suffering or distress of another.

   Synonym: compassion

   1. (in the plural) The formal expression of pity or sorrow for someone else's misfortune.
   2. The ability to share the feelings of another.
3. Inclination to think or feel alike; emotional or intellectual accord; common feeling.
   1. (in the plural) Support in the form of shared feelings or opinions.
   2. Feeling of loyalty; tendency towards, agreement with or approval of an opinion or aim; a favorable attitude.

4. An affinity, association or mutual relationship between people or things such that they are correspondingly affected by any condition.
   1. Mutual or parallel susceptibility or a condition brought about by it.
   2. (art) Artistic harmony, as of shape or colour in a painting.

Usage notes

• Used similarly to empathy, interchangeably in looser usage. In stricter usage, empathy is stronger and more intimate, while sympathy is weaker and more distant; see empathy: usage notes.

Antonyms

• apathy
• antipathy
• contempt (context-dependent)

Derived terms

Translations

References

• “sympathy”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “sympathy”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.