Definition

1. Verb:
   • To feel or express sympathy or compassion: To share or understand the feelings of another person, especially when they are suffering or experiencing difficulty.
   • To be understanding of: To show that you comprehend and accept another person's feelings, situation, or point of view.
   • To share the feelings of; understand the sentiments of: To emotionally connect with someone's experience, agreeing with or supporting their emotional state.

Usage and Examples

• Verb:
  • I deeply sympathize with your loss. (I feel great compassion for you regarding your loss.)
  • He sympathized with their struggle for justice. (He expressed understanding and support for their fight.)
  • As a parent, I can sympathize with your concerns about safety. (I share and understand your feelings as a fellow parent.)

Advanced Usage

• "to sympathize with": This is the standard and almost always required prepositional phrase when the object of sympathy is a person, cause, or situation.
  • It's hard not to sympathize with the main character's dilemma.
• Used to indicate agreement or alignment with a perspective or feeling.
  • While I don't agree with his methods, I sympathize with his goals.

Variants and Related Words

• Sympathy (n): The feeling of compassion or sorrow for someone else's misfortune.
  • She expressed her sympathy with a kind letter.
• Sympathetic (adj): Showing, feeling, or expressing sympathy; also, agreeable or likable.
  • He gave her a sympathetic smile.
• Sympathizer (n): A person who sympathizes with a particular cause or group.
  • He was known as a sympathizer of the movement.

Synonyms

• Commiserate: To express sympathy or sorrow for someone's suffering (often implies shared misery).
• Empathize: To understand and share the feelings of another (often implies a deeper, more personal identification).
• Condole: To express sympathetic sorrow, especially on the occasion of a death (more formal).

Related Phrases

• To offer one's sympathies: A formal phrase for expressing sympathy.
  • Please offer my sympathies to the entire family.
• To be in sympathy with: To agree with or support an idea or feeling.
  • I find myself in sympathy with that viewpoint.

Notes on Meaning

• Sympathize primarily involves compassion for another's suffering or support for their feelings. It does not necessarily mean taking action to help, though it is often a precursor to it.
• It is distinct from empathize, which suggests a more profound, intuitive sharing of another's emotional state. Sympathize can sometimes imply pity from a slight distance, while empathize implies a closer emotional connection.

Verb

1. to feel or express sympathy or compassion
2. be understanding of
   • You don't need to explain--I understand!
3. share the feelings of; understand the sentiments of