Definition of sympathy Sympathy

/sɪˈmpʌθi/ - [simputhee] - sym•pa•thy

We found 18 definitions of sympathy from 8 different sources.

What does sympathy mean?

Noun Plural: sympathies
sympathy - sharing the feelings of others (especially feelings of sorrow or anguish)
		fellow feeling
		feeling the experiencing of affective and emotional states; "she had a feeling of euphoria"; "he had terrible feelings of guilt"; "I disliked him and the feeling was mutual"
		concern something that interests you because it is important or affects you; "the safety of the ship is the captain's concern"
		kind-heartedness, kindheartedness sympathy arising from a kind heart
		compassionateness, compassion the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it
		commiseration, pathos, pity, ruth a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others; "the blind are too often objects of pity"
		compatibility capability of existing or performing in harmonious or congenial combination
sympathy - an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion; "his sympathies were always with the underdog"; "I knew I could count on his understanding"
		understanding
		disposition, tendency, inclination your usual mood; "he has a happy disposition"
sympathy - a relation of affinity or harmony between people; whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other; "the two of them were in close sympathy"
		kinship, affinity (anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption

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sympathy (Noun)
A feeling of pity or sorrow for the suffering or distress of another; compassion.
sympathy (Noun)
The ability to share the feelings of another.
sympathy (Noun)
A mutual relationship between people or things such that they are correspondingly affected by any condition.

sympathy (n.)
Feeling corresponding to that which another feels; the quality of being affected by the affection of another, with feelings correspondent in kind, if not in degree; fellow-feeling.
sympathy (n.)
An agreement of affections or inclinations, or a conformity of natural temperament, which causes persons to be pleased, or in accord, with one another; as, there is perfect sympathy between them.
sympathy (n.)
Kindness of feeling toward one who suffers; pity; commiseration; compassion.
sympathy (n.)
The reciprocal influence exercised by the various organs or parts of the body on one another, as manifested in the transmission of a disease by unknown means from one organ to another quite remote, or in the influence exerted by a diseased condition of one part on another part or organ, as in the vomiting produced by a tumor of the brain.
sympathy (n.)
That relation which exists between different persons by which one of them produces in the others a state or condition like that of himself. This is shown in the tendency to yawn which a person often feels on seeing another yawn, or the strong inclination to become hysteric experienced by many women on seeing another person suffering with hysteria.
sympathy (n.)
A tendency of inanimate things to unite, or to act on each other; as, the sympathy between the loadstone and iron.
sympathy (n.)
Similarity of function, use office, or the like.

sympathy
The sharing of another's emotions, especially of sorrow or anguish; pity; compassion.

sympathy
sim′pa-thi, n. like feeling: an agreement of inclination, feeling, or sensation: compassion: pity: tenderness: an agreement of affections or inclinations, or a conformity of natural temperament: mutual conformity of parts in the fine arts: correspondence of parts in similar sensations or affections, or the affection of the whole body or system, or some part of it, in consequence of local injury or disease: propensity of inanimate bodies to union or mutual action: the effective union of colours.—adjs. Sympathet′ic, -al, showing, or inclined to, sympathy: feeling with another: able to sympathise: compassionate: produced by sympathy: uniting viscera and blood-vessels in a nervous action common to them all: noting sounds induced by vibrations conveyed through air, &c., from a body already in vibration.—adv. Sympathet′ically.—n. Sympathet′icism, undue disipostion to be sympathetic.—v.i. Sym′pathise, to have sympathy: to feel with or for another: to be compassionate.—ns. Sym′pathiser; Sym′pathism; Sym′pathist.—Sympathetic ink (see Ink). [Gr. sympatheia—syn, with, pathos, suffering.]

Sympathy exists when the feelings or emotions of one person lead to similar feelings in another person so that they share feeling. Mostly sympathy means the sharing of unhappiness or suffering, but it can also mean sharing other (positive) emotions. In a broader sense, it can refer to the sharing of political or ideological sentiments, such as in the phrase "a communist sympathiser".

The psychological state of sympathy is closely linked with that of empathy, but is not identical to it. Empathy refers to the ability to perceive and directly experientially feel another person's emotions as they feel them, but makes no statement as to how they are viewed.

Sympathy, by contrast, implies a degree of equal feeling, that is, the sympathiser views the matter similarly to how the person themselves does. It thus implies concern, or care or a wish to reduce negative feelings others are experiencing.