sympathize

American  

[sim-puh-thahyz] / ˈsɪm pəˌθaɪz /

especially British, sympathise

verb (used without object)

sympathized, sympathizing

1. to be in sympathy or agreement of feeling; share in a feeling (often followed bywith ).

2. to feel a compassionate sympathy, as for suffering or trouble (often followed bywith ).

3. to express sympathy or condole (often followed bywith ).

4. to be in approving accord, as with a person or cause.

   to sympathize with a person's aims.

   Synonyms:

   support, back, favor, approve, understand

5. to agree, correspond, or accord.

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sympathize British  

/ ˈsɪmpəˌθaɪz /

verb

1. to feel or express compassion or sympathy (for); commiserate

   he sympathized with my troubles

2. to share or understand the sentiments or ideas (of); be in sympathy (with)

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Usage

What does sympathize mean? To sympathize with someone is to feel sympathy for them—to share their emotions, especially sadness. This is usually understood to mean that you feel bad for them because they are in a negative situation. The word sympathize can also mean to offer one’s sympathies or condolences, such as to someone who is in mourning. Sympathize also sometimes means to be supportive of or loyal to someone or something, such as a leader or cause, as in Many working class voters sympathize with the senator’s platform. The word sympathizer is especially used to refer to someone who sympathizes in this way. Someone who sympathizes can be described as sympathetic. Sympathetic can also be used to describe someone who causes you to sympathize with them. Some people use the word sympathize interchangeably or in overlapping ways with the word empathize, which means to have empathy—to imagine or try to deeply understand what someone is feeling or what it’s like to be in their situation. However, others distinguish the two terms by emphasizing the importance of empathizing with others (feeling their pain) as opposed to sympathizing with them (feeling sorry for them). Example: I’ve experienced the same thing, so I can sympathize.

Other Word Forms

• nonsympathizing
  adjective
• nonsympathizingly
  adverb
• presympathize
  verb (used without object)
• sympathizer
  noun
• sympathizingly
  adverb
• unsympathized
  adjective
• unsympathizing
  adjective
• unsympathizingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of sympathize

First recorded in 1580–90; from Middle French sympathiser; from sympath(ie) sympathy + -iser -ize

Explanation

When you sympathize, you care about how someone else feels during a time of trouble. If you sympathize with your brother, whose best friend is moving away, you understand why he's feeling sad. When you sympathize, you care, so you might sympathize with the victims of an earthquake in a foreign country or a child who's waiting for her turn on a merry-go-round. Sympathize comes from the Greek sympathes, have a fellow feeling for. It's sometimes confused with empathize, which means putting yourself in someone else's shoes, rather than simply caring about them.

Example Sentences

Sympathize with him, even as you underscore the importance of keeping people healthy.

From New York Times • Mar. 19, 2020

In its desolation at the breakup of the Judeo-Christian past, the poem turns for salvation to the Buddha and his three ethical commandments: Give, Sympathize, Control.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sympathize with me on this the most wretched and melancholy day of my life.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, Number 361, November, 1845. by Various

Sympathize blindly with it all I do even "now", God knows! from the very middle of my heart's heart, but I would fain sympathize with you in the light of knowledge.

From Biographia Epistolaris, Volume 1. by Turnbull, A.

Sympathize and succour my neighbour in trouble and do what is needed to help him get upon his feet.

From Studies in the Life of the Christian by Sell, Henry T. (Henry Thorne)

Related Words

• commiserate
• comprehend