English Meaning & Definitions
Feeling, showing, or expressing sympathy; understanding and sharing in the feelings of others.
- “She was very sympathetic when I told her about my difficult situation.”
- “A sympathetic listener can make all the difference during a crisis.”
Pleasing or enjoyable; attractive or likable.
- “He is a sympathetic character in the novel, despite his flaws.”
- “They formed a sympathetic partnership that lasted for decades.”
Relating to or denoting the part of the autonomic nervous system that is concerned especially with accelerating the heart rate, constricting blood vessels, and raising blood pressure (fight-or-flight response).
- “Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, increasing alertness.”
- “Adrenaline is released as part of the sympathetic response.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “sympathetic”.
Derived from the Greek words 'syn-' (meaning 'together with') and 'pathos' (meaning 'feeling' or 'suffering'). Originally used in the medical and physical sciences to describe things that are mutually affected by one another, it later evolved in the 17th century to describe emotional fellow-feeling and compassion.
Think of someone sharing the same 'sym-path' (path of feeling) as you, walking alongside you in your emotions.
Frequently Asked Questions About “sympathetic”
1. What is the meaning of “sympathetic” in English?
In English, sympathetic (adjective) is defined as: “Feeling, showing, or expressing sympathy; understanding and sharing in the feelings of others.”.
2. How do you use “sympathetic” in a sentence?
“She was very sympathetic when I told her about my difficult situation.”
3. What are English synonyms of “sympathetic”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “sympathetic”?
Derived from the Greek words 'syn-' (meaning 'together with') and 'pathos' (meaning 'feeling' or 'suffering'). Originally used in the medical and physical sciences to describe things that are mutually affected by one another, it later evolved in the 17th century to describe emotional fellow-feeling and compassion.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.