Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To feel or express compassion, as for another's suffering; commiserate.
- intransitive verb To share or understand the feelings or ideas of another.
- intransitive verb To be in accord; correspond.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To have or exhibit sympathy; be affected as a result of the affection of some one or something else.
- To feel in consequence of what another feels; be affected by feelings similar to those of another, commonly in consequence of knowing the other to be thus affected.
- To be affected sympathetically; respond sympathetically to external influences of any kind.
- To agree; flt; harmonize.
- To express sympathy; condole.
- To be of like nature or disposition; resemble.
- To have sympathy for; share in; participate in.
- To form with suitable adaptation; contrive with congruity or consistency of parts; match in all the concomitants of; harmonize in all the parts of.
- Also spelled
sympathise .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To experience together.
- transitive verb obsolete To ansew to; to correspond to.
- intransitive verb To have a common feeling, as of bodily pleasure or pain.
- intransitive verb To feel in consequence of what another feels; to be affected by feelings similar to those of another, in consequence of knowing the person to be thus affected.
- intransitive verb To agree; to be in accord; to harmonize.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To show deep
sympathy towards someone or something.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb to feel or express sympathy or compassion
- verb share the feelings of; understand the sentiments of
- verb be understanding of
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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It takes a native to sympathize, which is why I go.
The First Man in Rome McCullough, Colleen, 1937- 1990
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In this world, to understand and to sympathize is to be saddened.
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In this world, to understand and to sympathize is to be saddened.
Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise David Graham Phillips 1889
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Here Will is supposed to be the everyman, the character with whom we should sympathize, which is quite a bit to rest on his slim, bookish shoulders.
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The judges were not there to 'sympathize' they were they to interpret the LAW.
Sotomayor: Supreme Court might be able to take on more cases 2009
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It says it can "sympathize" with the attempt to "decimate" Hamas and "wrest Gaza from its grip," despite much expert commentary that this would do more harm than good in the long run (especially since Hamas did win a democratic election).
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You know, don't torch me on this one, but I kind of sympathize with the baker.
How to Make Your Twins Hate You Jen 2009
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Outgoing National Police Commissioner Frank Short, a salty Australian expat, has publicly rebuked Rabuka for appearing to "sympathize" with the rebels.
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Demons, hearing this word, thought it meant dayadhvam, meaning "sympathize" or "be compassionate"; in the Oriental context demons were not evil spirits but deities of the old matriarchal religion, who preached karuna, mother-love.
Archive 2008-04-01 Jan 2008
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His character just _will_ not shut up through the entire course of the movie, but you kind of sympathize with the motormouth response to everything going on around him.
*sleepyeyes* 2006
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