sympathy

Everyday

1. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone who is sad, hurt or in trouble, and showing that you care. tree →
2. Sympathy can mean agreeing with or supporting someone's ideas or side: I have some sympathy with his view. tree →
3. (formal) «Sympathies» are the kind words you send when someone has died: «with deepest sympathy». tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life and stories it is a caring feeling: we feel sympathy for someone who is ill or has lost a pet. Phrases: feel sympathy for, have sympathy with, a sympathy card, out of sympathy, our sympathies.

Examples

• I felt great sympathy for Sam when his dog died. tree →
• We sent Mrs Jones a sympathy card. tree →
• The children showed sympathy for the new girl who was lonely. tree →
• He got no sympathy from his sister when he complained. tree →
• I have some sympathy with your idea. tree →
• Please accept our deepest sympathy. tree →
• But Jupiter had little sympathy for him. tree →

Note

Usually uncountable: «a lot of sympathy». Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone; empathy is imagining how they feel from the inside. Not the same as «pity», which can sound like looking down on someone. Adjective: sympathetic (kind, caring) — in Ukrainian «симпатичний» means «nice-looking», a false friend.