sympathy
/ˈsɪm.pə.θi/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.01 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Inclination to think or feel alike; emotional or intellectual accord; common feeling.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Inclination to think or feel alike; emotional or intellectual accord; common feeling.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Inclination to think or feel alike; emotional or intellectual accord; common feeling.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An affinity, association or mutual relationship between people or things such that they are correspondingly affected by any condition.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An affinity, association or mutual relationship between people or things such that they are correspondingly affected by any condition.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "If you want sympathy you’ll find it in the dictionary between shit and syphilis. Sympathy may pay well in the short term, but if you cash in on sympathy, it will take everything from you in the long run."
- "And all told, Trump’s second term has actually led to the most sympathy for migrants on record in the 21st century, per Gallup. Fully 79% of Americans now say immigration is a “good thing,” compared with 64% last year."
- "While you'll probably have her sympathies if your condominium association wants to preapprove your storm door, you'll need to work harder for her support if your boss at the music megastore demands you grow a goatee to help lend the place some indie cred."
- "Oh vvhat a ſimpathie of vvoe is this, / As farre from helpe, as Lymbo is from bliſſe."
- "Many people in Hollywood were blacklisted merely because they were suspected of Communist sympathies."
- "He observed, also, the frequent sympathy of volcanic and terremotive action in remote districts of the earth's surface, thus showing how deeply seated must be the cause of these convulsions."
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French sympathie, from Late Latin sympathīa (“feeling in common”), from Ancient Greek σῠμπᾰ́θειᾰ (sŭmpắtheiă, “fellow feeling”), from σῠμπᾰθής (sŭmpăthḗs, “affected by like feelings; exerting mutual influence, interacting”) + -ῐᾰ (-ĭă, “-y”, nominal suffix). Equivalent to sym- (“acting or considered together”) + -pathy (“feeling”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: sympathīa, σῠμπᾰ́θειᾰ
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈsɪm.pə.θi/
- British English: /ˈsɪm.pə.θi/