sympathy - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'sympathy' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . 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.
- 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.
- Kindness of feeling toward one who suffers; pity; commiseration; compassion.
- 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.
- 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.
- A tendency of inanimate things to unite, or to act on each other; as, the sympathy between the loadstone and iron.
- Similarity of function, use office, or the like.

Meaning of 'sympathy' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . sympathy

[ n]

Meaning (1):
- an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion

Example in sentence:

his sympathies were always with the underdog;
I knew I could count on his understanding

Meaning (2):
- a relation of affinity or harmony between people; whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other

Example in sentence:

the two of them were in close sympathy

Nearby Words:

sym- symar symarr symbal symbol symbolic symbolical symbolics symbolism symbolist

See 'sympathy' also in:

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Sympathy
Sympathy is the ability to feel with someone. An emotional experience, as opposed to empathy.

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