sympathy means A feeling of pity or sorrow for the suffering or distress of another.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sympathy ranks #616 of 25,264 for Qualifying, #2,351 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words, #2,737 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #7,084 of 14,414 for Most Elegant Words.
sympathy is pronounced /ˈsɪm.pəθ.i/.
Why “sympathy” is a great word
A feeling of pity, sorrow, or supportive concern for the suffering or misfortune of another. From the Ancient Greek σῠμπᾰ́θειᾰ (sumpatheia, 'fellow feeling'), from σῠν- (sun-, 'together') + πάθος (pathos, 'suffering, feeling'). Unlike 'empathy' (which plunges you into another's exact emotional waters) or 'apathy' (which withdraws to the cold shore of indifference), sympathy is the act of standing beside someone in their suffering without becoming submerged. It is the handwritten note left at a doorstep, the casserole delivered in disposable foil, the carefully chosen silence of a hand on a shoulder—small architectures of concern built from the recognition that another's pain deserves witness, even when we cannot truly share its interior architecture.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French sympathie, from Late Latin sympathīa (“feeling in common”), from Ancient Greek σῠμπᾰ́θειᾰ (sŭmpắtheiă, “fellow feeling”), from σῠμπᾰθής (sŭmpăthḗs, “affected by like feelings; exerting mutual influence, interacting”) + -ῐᾰ (-ĭă, “-y”, nominal suffix). Equivalent to sym- (“acting or considered together”) + -pathy (“feeling”).
noun
- A feeling of pity or sorrow for the suffering or distress of another.“If you want sympathy you’ll find it in the dictionary between shit and syphilis. Sympathy may pay well in the short term, but if you cash in on sympathy, it will take everything from you in the long run.”
- A feeling of pity or sorrow for the suffering or distress of another.; The formal expression of pity or sorrow for someone else's misfortune.“While you'll probably have her sympathies if your condominium association wants to preapprove your storm door, you'll need to work harder for her support if your boss at the music megastore demands you grow a goatee to help lend the place some indie cred.”
- A feeling of pity or sorrow for the suffering or distress of another.; The ability to share the feelings of another.
- Inclination to think or feel alike; emotional or intellectual accord; common feeling.“Oh vvhat a ſimpathie of vvoe is this, / As farre from helpe, as Lymbo is from bliſſe.”
- Inclination to think or feel alike; emotional or intellectual accord; common feeling.; Support in the form of shared feelings or opinions.
- Inclination to think or feel alike; emotional or intellectual accord; common feeling.; Feeling of loyalty; tendency towards, agreement with or approval of an opinion or aim; a favorable attitude.“Many people in Hollywood were blacklisted merely because they were suspected of Communist sympathies.”
- An affinity, association or mutual relationship between people or things such that they are correspondingly affected by any condition.“He observed, also, the frequent sympathy of volcanic and terremotive action in remote districts of the earth's surface, thus showing how deeply seated must be the cause of these convulsions.”
- An affinity, association or mutual relationship between people or things such that they are correspondingly affected by any condition.; Mutual or parallel susceptibility or a condition brought about by it.
- An affinity, association or mutual relationship between people or things such that they are correspondingly affected by any condition.; Artistic harmony, as of shape or colour in a painting.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- commiseration 92% match — The act of commiserating; sorrow for the hardships or afflictions of another; pity; compassion. vs sympathy →
- empathy 92% match — Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person. vs sympathy →
- compassion 90% match — Deep awareness of the suffering of others that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such states. vs sympathy →
- commiserate 90% match — Commiserating, pitying, lamentful. vs sympathy →
- compassionate 89% match — Having, feeling or showing compassion (to or toward someone). vs sympathy →
- pathos 89% match — The quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions and passions, especially that which awakens tender emotions, such as pity, sorrow, and the like; contagious warmth of feeling, action, or expression; pathetic quality. vs sympathy →
- condolence 87% match — Comfort, support or sympathy. vs sympathy →
- fellowfeel 87% match — To empathize or sympathize with. vs sympathy →