What does sympathy mean?
Sympathy is a noun for the shared feeling of compassion or concern that people experience in response to another person's suffering, misfortune, or emotional difficulty. In everyday use, it often appears with expressions such as “express sympathy,” “sympathy for,” and “a message of sympathy.” The word can also mean agreement with a viewpoint, policy, or group, although this sense is less common in modern usage than the sense of shared concern. Sympathy is generally associated with warmth and human understanding, but it should not be confused with empathy: sympathy emphasizes feeling concern for someone, whereas empathy more precisely emphasizes understanding and sharing another person's emotional perspective. The term is useful because it names both a private emotional response and a social way of acknowledging suffering that can be expressed through words, actions, or support.
A feeling of shared concern or compassion for another person, especially someone who is suffering or experiencing difficulty.
"Her kindness and sympathy meant a great deal to the bereaved family."
This is the dominant modern sense. It commonly takes “for” with a person, group, or situation: “sympathy for the victims.”
Agreement with or support for a particular opinion, aim, or group.
"The proposal won sympathy among voters who favored greater local control."
This sense is formal and less frequent than the modern sense of emotional compassion; “in sympathy with” is a common pattern.
Usually used in the plural when referring to expressions of concern for someone or to shared feelings or positions: “She offered her condolences and sympathies.”
"The family received messages of sympathy and sympathies from friends and colleagues."
Sympathy is the social impulse to treat another person's pain as though it matters to you, not merely to understand it from a distance.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sympathy come from?
Sympathy comes from Greek sympathia, formed from sym- “together” and pathos “feeling, suffering.” The Greek word was borrowed into English through Latin and French, initially referring to a shared feeling or natural correspondence between different things. Over time, its English meaning narrowed and developed to emphasize shared compassion for another person's distress. The same Greek root appears in words such as empathy, antipathy, and pathetic, although their modern meanings have become distinct.
Related word forms
How sympathy is actually used
In contemporary English, sympathy most often conveys emotional concern and compassion. Its older sense of agreement with an idea or group is still established but less dominant.
Easily confused with sympathy
Sympathy generally refers to shared compassion or concern for another person's feelings, while empathy more specifically emphasizes understanding another person's emotional experience.
Sympathy can mean emotional concern for someone, but it can also mean agreement with a viewpoint; in that sense it is similar to support or approval rather than compassion alone.