empathic
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
The adjective empathic describes the ability to understand other people's feelings. There is nothing better than a truly empathic friend when you're feeling sad. Empathic people are sensitive to the way others feel, and even seem to share those feelings. If you give truly empathic support to someone who's suffered a serious, tragic loss, you may even cry along with them as they tell their story. Empathic is an older word than its close relation, the more common empathetic. These synonyms come from the Greek root pathos, or "feeling."
Vocabulary lists containing empathic
Vocabulary from "There Will Never Be an Age of Artificial Intimacy," by Sherry Turkle
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myPerspectives 9.2
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path
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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.
In contrast, the empathic distance that reality TV affords still allows us to not only delight in the Traitors’ impressive murder run but perhaps fantasize about how well we’d perform in their place.
From Salon • Jan. 28, 2026
Individuals who received coaching were rated as 20% more empathic than those without coaching.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026
“But it’s not actually giving them real-life experiences with other humans that are important for developing the healthy, mutually empathic curiosity that people need to participate in complex human relationships.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2025
Researchers at Durham University found that chimpanzees were as likely to console one another as bonobos - even though the latter is typically considered the more "empathic" primate.
From BBC • Apr. 26, 2025
Rick said, “There is a defect in your empathic, role-taking ability. One which we don’t test for. Your feelings toward androids.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
