empathize
Americanverb (used without object)
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empathizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
empathized,
past participle, past
-
empathizing
present participle
verb
Usage
What does empathize mean? To empathize with someone is to imagine or try to deeply understand what they are feeling or what it’s like to be in their situation. The ability or the practice of doing this is called empathy, which is often described as the ability to feel what others are feeling as if you are feeling it yourself. So, to empathize is to feel empathy for someone. People who do this are described as empathetic. Some people use the word empathize interchangeably or in overlapping ways with the word sympathize, which generally means to share someone else’s emotions, especially sadness. 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: Having faced many of the same challenges, Nyala is able to empathize with other immigrants and what they go through.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
empathizesimple
-
empathizessimple
-
have empathizedperfect
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has empathizedperfect
-
am empathizingprogressive
-
are empathizingprogressive
-
is empathizingprogressive
-
have been empathizingperfect progressive
-
has been empathizingperfect progressive
Past
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empathizedsimple
-
had empathizedperfect
-
was empathizingprogressive
-
were empathizingprogressive
-
had been empathizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of empathize
Explanation
To empathize is to understand or relate to someone else's emotional experience. If you get teary-eyed upon hearing about the death of your friend's pet hermit crab, you're probably empathizing with your friend — unless you're just bored to tears by her story. Empathize is often used interchangeably with sympathize, but you'll get no empathy (or sympathy) from usage experts if you confuse the two. When you sympathize with another person, you feel sad that she is suffering, but you don't necessarily relate to her experience. It's easiest to empathize when you've been through a similar experience; for example, if your pet guppy had recently passed away, your friend's hermit crab story would have broken your heart due to empathy.
Vocabulary lists containing empathize
"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 7
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"The Freedom Writers Diary" and "Strength, Courage, and Wisdom"
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"The Interlopers" and "An Interview with the King of Terror"
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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.
See Examples For:
We should want them to empathize with marginalized groups, including abuse victims and children.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026
It’s integral to Marie Antoinette’s tragedy, to making the viewer empathize with a girl who had no choice but to get in over her head.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
I can empathize with your position as I love boundaries.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
“I like Instagrams where people are putting themselves out there and maybe they’re not the best at it, and I both find it funny but I do also empathize with them, too, and support them.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
It amazed me how I could empathize not only with Anne Frank, but also with a Holocaust survivor.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
No one understands, explicates and empathizes with mothers and daughters, love and pain, life and all it entails, quite like Ms. Hudes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
She empathizes with Denitra’s predicament, but how can she combat a system that made her an exception by the luck of the educational draw?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
Defenseman John Carlson, who was out from Dec. 23-March 23 after taking a slap shot to the face, empathizes with Backstrom trying to ramp up again after the surgery.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2023
Park, who loves “Crazy Rich Asians,” empathizes with the burden to represent everybody.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
"Beef" empathizes with its antagonists without condoning what they're doing to each other.
From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2023
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, said she empathized with the Cuban people but took issue with her Jamaican counterpart's remarks.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
She played nine holes of a pro-am round Monday with tournament host Sorenstam, who empathized with the difficulty of handling an intense swirl of criticism and support.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
She and her husband empathized with their intended parents, who were coping with the sudden loss of tens of thousands of dollars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
For the first time, I empathized with her desperation.
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2025
So it seemed to Charles “that an innate feeling must have told him that the pretended crying of his nurse expressed grief” and that he empathized with her.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
“We as carbon-based fools will spend our money empathizing and caring about silicon-based creations,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
Still, there’s no empathizing with hapless, clueless Joe when he whines, “Do you really think the power is with the police?”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2025
“The Last Showgirl” isn’t wonderful because Anderson plays a version of herself, but rather because Anderson fundamentally understands her character, empathizing with Shelly’s desperation to hold onto modern life’s fleeting romance.
From Salon ● Jan. 8, 2025
This should not be hard to do, but in a conflict with roots as deep and fraught as this one, even simply empathizing with the pain of other human beings engenders accusations of bias.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
In other words, if I smile and you see me and smile in response — even a microsmile that takes no more than several milliseconds — it’s not just you imitating or empathizing with me.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
