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

One can sympathize with the urge of these young, educated workers to rebel against their situations.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

Still, the movie seems to sympathize with many Americans’ misplaced faith in the remoteness of nuclear war.

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026

"It's quite easy to make a version of that story where he's a sort of toxic incel male conspiracy theorist nut who you don't really sympathize with," he told AFP.

From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026

One can understand, even sympathize with, the reluctance of UC to pursue a courtroom fight over Trump’s demands.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2025

I sympathize with those whose hearts were pained, as mine was pained, when Mr. Max so cynically assailed our sacred customs.

From "Native Son" by Richard Wright

Related Words

• commiserate
• comprehend