fellow-feeling

A kind neighbor shows fellow-feeling by helping an elderly woman carry her groceries.

Definition

Noun
1. Sympathy or shared emotion: "fellow-feeling" refers to a sense of shared understanding, compassion, or emotional connection with another person, often arising from similar experiences or circumstances.
2. Mutual understanding: A feeling of common ground or solidarity based on shared perspectives or situations.

Usage Examples

• (Sympathy born from shared hardship.)
• (A sense of emotional connection.)
• (Mutual understanding due to shared experience.)

Advanced Usage

• "to have fellow-feeling for someone": to feel sympathy or compassion for another person.
  • He had a deep fellow-feeling for the refugees, having been one himself. (He understood their plight personally.)
• "fellow-feeling with": a sense of emotional kinship or empathy.
  • She expressed fellow-feeling with the grieving family. (She showed compassion based on shared loss.)

Variants and Related Words

• Fellow (n): a person who shares a common activity, status, or condition.
  • He is a fellow student in my class. (A person in the same group.)
• Feeling (n): an emotional state or sensation.
  • She had a strong feeling of joy. (An emotion.)

Synonyms

• Sympathy: the ability to share the feelings of another.
• Empathy: the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing.
• Compassion: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
• Solidarity: unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest.

Related Idioms

• "In the same boat": in the same difficult situation as others.
  • We are all in the same boat, so we should help each other. (Shared hardship creates fellow-feeling.)
• "Birds of a feather flock together": people with similar interests or characteristics tend to associate.
  • They became friends quickly because of their fellow-feeling. (Shared traits lead to connection.)