Sympathize Meaning
/sˈɪmpəˌθaɪz/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo have, show or express sympathy; to be affected by feelings similar to those of another, in consequence of knowing the person to be thus affected
verbTo support, favour, have sympathy (with a political cause or movement, a side in a conflict / in an action).
Sentence Examples
It is easier to sympathize with sorrow than to sympathize with joy.
I couldn't but sympathize with the girl who had lost her parents in the accident.
I sympathize with you from the bottom of my heart.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
I can truly ____ with your pain after your dog died last week.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is easy to ____ with the main character of the book because he faces many challenges that we all understand today.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French sympathiser. By surface analysis, sympathy + -ize. Displaced native Old English efnþrōwian (literally “to suffer with or together”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] the Authors having chosen for their Heroes Persons who were so nearly related to the People for whom they wrote. Achilles was a Greek, and Aeneas the remote Founder of Rome. By this Means their Countrymen (whom they principally proposed to themselves for their Readers) were particularly attentive to all the Parts of their Story, and sympathized with their Heroes in all their Adventures."
— 1711–1714, [Joseph Addison], The Spectator, number 273; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
"Some old people keep young at heart in spite of wrinkles and gray hairs, can sympathize with children’s little cares and joys, make them feel at home, and can hide wise lessons under pleasant plays, giving and receiving friendship in the sweetest way."
— 1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 19, in Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:
"“I can’t quite sympathise with your mother in all her feelings about this marriage, because I do not think that I recognise as she does the necessity of money.”"
— 1873 May 1 – December 22 (date written), Anthony Trollope, chapter 19, in The Way We Live Now. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published June 1875, →OCLC:
"The wives were sympathizing with each other in slightly raised voices."
— 1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 3, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 52:
"‘[…] who is to hunt up my witnesses? All of them are sailors, drafted off to other ships, except those whose evidence would go for very little, as they took part, or sympathised in the affair. […]’"
— 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter 31, in North and South:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
I can truly ____ with your pain after your dog died last week.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is easy to ____ with the main character of the book because he faces many challenges that we all understand today.