sympathetic

Everyday

1. Sympathetic means showing that you understand and care about someone's sadness or problems: a sympathetic friend. tree →
2. Sympathetic to an idea or group means agreeing with it or supporting it. tree →
3. A sympathetic character in a story is one readers like and care about. tree →

In the lessons

Feelings and PSHE: being sympathetic means listening, saying kind words, and helping when a friend is upset. English lessons: authors make a character sympathetic by showing their struggles and kindness. Science (older pupils): the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for «fight or flight».

Examples

• The nurse was very sympathetic when I hurt my arm. tree →
• My friends were sympathetic when my cat died. tree →
• The head teacher is sympathetic to our idea for a garden. tree →
• The hero is a sympathetic character because he is brave and kind. tree →
• She gave me a sympathetic smile. tree →
• Not everyone was sympathetic to his complaints. tree →
• But, when the two heroes met face to face, both were seized with an impulse of sympathetic admiration for each other. tree →

Note

False friend: in many European languages (French sympathique, Spanish simpático, Ukrainian «симпатичний») the word means «nice, likeable» or «good-looking», but English «sympathetic» means «understanding and caring about someone's troubles». Noun: sympathy. Compare: empathy (feeling what another person feels).