sympathetic

CEFRB2

/ˌsɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Showing care for someone else's feelings or problems.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Attracting the liking of others. (of a person)

Examples

  • The girl and her parents were very sympathetic.

  • He's sympathetic to our plan.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Of, related to, feeling, showing, or characterized by sympathy.

  2. Showing approval of or favor towards an idea or action.

  3. Designed in a sensitive or appropriate way.

More examples

In context

  • John looked very upset. I gave him a sympathetic look.

  • Sympathetic magic is based on imitation or correspondence.

  • sympathetic ink

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

When I told her about my sadness, she was very blank and gave me a hug.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

Mid 17th century in the sense “relating to an affinity or paranormal influence”, from Latin sympathēticus. By surface analysis, sympathy + -etic (“pertaining to”); compare pathetic. Displaced native Old English efnþrōwiende.