sympathy
the act or state of feeling sorrow or compassion for another:I can do no more than express my deep sympathy for you in your loss.
agreement in feelings or emotions between people or on the part of one person toward another, especially as based on similar tastes, shared understanding, etc.:The characters are odious and self-serving, and neither arouses any sympathy in the reader.
sympathies,
feelings or impulses of compassion: The mayor extends her deepest sympathies to all those affected by the bridge collapse.
feelings of favor, support, or loyalty: It's hard to tell where your sympathies lie.
favor or approval: He viewed the plan with sympathy and publicly backed it.
agreement, consonance, or accord: It's difficult not to have some sympathy with the sentiments expressed.
Psychology. a relationship between persons in which the condition of one induces a parallel or reciprocal condition in another.
Physiology. the relation between parts or organs whereby a condition or disorder of one part induces some effect in another.
expressing sympathy: A sympathy card can be an encouraging ray of light to someone who has recently lost a loved one.Some suspect the nomination was a sympathy vote rather than a true reflection of her qualifications.
Origin of sympathy
1synonym study For sympathy
Other words for sympathy
Other words from sympathy
- non·sym·pa·thy, noun, plural non·sym·pa·thies.
- pre·sym·pa·thy, noun
- su·per·sym·pa·thy, noun, plural su·per·sym·pa·thies.
Words that may be confused with sympathy
- empathy, sympathy (see synonym study at the current entry)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sympathy in a sentence
We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of those on board QZ8501.
Over the course of the year, Klaus would repeatedly, through word and deed, demonstrate his sympathies with Putin.
Vaclav Klaus, Libertarian Hero, Has His Wings Clipped by Cato Institute | James Kirchick | December 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFor anyone whose political sympathies lie left of center, discovering and reading Chomsky is a rite of passage.
He may have done an excellent job of expressing his sympathies in an appropriate and meaningful way.
Her sympathies lie instead with Roelf Pool, one of her first pupils, who has run away from his farm to become a painter in Paris.
His sympathies were essentially democratic; himself one of the people, he believed thoroughly in republican ideas.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonI can not connect myself with any man whose tastes and sympathies are not in accordance with my own.
Madame Roland, Makers of History | John S. C. AbbottThe fact that I am practically an exile from my native land shows where my sympathies lie.
The Weight of the Crown | Fred M. WhiteWe believe it to be anti-Christian in its character, and misanthropic in its pretended sympathies.
There are sympathies that go deep between little girls and their dolls.
Child Life In Town And Country | Anatole France
British Dictionary definitions for sympathy
/ (ˈsɪmpəθɪ) /
the sharing of another's emotions, esp of sorrow or anguish; pity; compassion
an affinity or harmony, usually of feelings or interests, between persons or things: to be in sympathy with someone
mutual affection or understanding arising from such a relationship; congeniality
the condition of a physical system or body when its behaviour is similar or corresponds to that of a different system that influences it, such as the vibration of sympathetic strings
(sometimes plural) a feeling of loyalty, support, or accord, as for an idea, cause, etc
physiol the mutual relationship between two organs or parts whereby a change in one has an effect on the other
Origin of sympathy
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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