empathetic
Americanadjective
Usage
What does empathetic mean? Empathetic means having or tending to have empathy—the ability or practice of imagining or trying to deeply understand what someone else is feeling or what it’s like to be in their situation. Empathy is often described as the ability to feel what others are feeling as if you are feeling it yourself. To feel empathy for someone is to empathize. People who do this are described as empathetic. Some people use the word empathetic interchangeably or in overlapping ways with the word sympathetic, which generally means sharing or tending to share emotions with someone else, especially sadness. However, others distinguish the two terms by emphasizing the importance of being empathetic toward others (feeling their pain) as opposed to being sympathetic toward them (feeling sorry for them). A less common variant of empathetic is empathic. Example: Having faced many of the same challenges, Nyala is empathetic to the struggles of immigrants.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of empathetic
Explanation
An empathetic person is someone who can share another person's feelings. If you tell an empathetic person that your heart is broken, she might touch her own heart and gaze at you sadly through moist eyes. Empathetic is a recent term; it comes from empathy, which was coined by the German philosopher Rudolf Lotze in 1858. Lotze believed that when you look at a work of art, you project your own sensibilities onto it. So if you feel sad when you see a painting of a woman weeping over a dying lover, that's because you can imagine what it's like to lose someone you love. To make the word, Lotze turned to the ancient Greek empatheia, which means "passion."
Vocabulary lists containing empathetic
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 1
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Positive Words to Describe a Person
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sounding empathetic or apologetic helps it accomplish that task.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
People feel empathetic embarrassment for robots in uncomfortable situations.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
The force knew her routine and where she spent time - and an empathetic officer obtained a detailed account from the woman.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
“Thomas Jefferson was a man of the world. I’m sure he knew gay people. Sally Hemings was enslaved, so I would think she’d be more empathetic because of being an outcast and an outsider.”
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
A kind, good-hearted person might be touched that people are being so empathetic to the personal weather condition of others, but the more I hear it, the more I fume.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
