feel for
Idioms-
Grope, reach for with one's hands, as in It was pitch dark, and I felt for the doorknob . [Early 1700s]
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feel for someone . Sympathize with or feel sorry for someone, as in Tom was so upset that I felt for him . This usage was put as feel with by Shakespeare: “It resounds as if it felt with Scotland” ( Macbeth , 4:3). Both senses of feel for are present in the somewhat sarcastic I feel for you but I can't quite reach you , meaning “Too bad, but I don't really feel sorry for you.”
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.
“He’s got a really good feel for the game,” Jeremiah said.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026
"I think I was lucky, but I feel for the other women," she says.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026
To get a feel for how much more common $1 million homes have become, Barron’s used Realtor.com data to compare the share of homes listed above six figures in 2026 to the share in 2020.
From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026
To get a better feel for Walmart, though, a single quarter’s results aren’t that instructive.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
He’d never gone as far out to sea as the islet but he had a good feel for direction.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
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.
