SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
empathetic
adjective
Able to understand or share another person's feelings and experience.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Understanding others' feelings
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topEmpathetic emphasizes understanding another person's perspective or feelings. Sympathy can express concern without sharing that perspective; compassion emphasizes concern for suffering.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See empathetic in use
An empathetic listener gave the nervous newcomer time to explain her concerns.
One housemate gave a gracious response when Elise apologized for the abrupt message, thanking her for explaining instead of dwelling on the awkwardness. Another was empathetic, recognizing why repeated difficulty opening the drawer had become frustrating and checking that understanding with her.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
- WordNet 3.0: selected lexical senses
- EMPATHETIC Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
- EMPATHY Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license