sympathetic
Noun pluralsympathetics
Pluralsympathetics
- 1Feeling or showing that you care about someone else's pain or trouble.
Like a friend who feels sad with you when you are sad.
She gave me a sympathetic smile when I told her the bad news.
The nurse was very sympathetic toward the frightened child.
Similarcompassionate, understanding, caring, supportive
Oppositeunsympathetic
Note
- 2Liking an idea or plan and wanting to support it.
Like nodding along when a friend shares a plan you agree with.
Many voters were sympathetic to the new health plan.
The teacher was sympathetic to our idea for a class trip.
Similarapproving
Oppositeunsympathetic
Note
- 3Easy to like, pleasant and likeable as a person.
Like a person you want to be friends with the moment you meet them.
He is a sympathetic young man whom everyone enjoys being around.
The new neighbor seemed friendly and sympathetic.
Similarlikable, pleasant, appealing, congenial
Oppositeunsympathetic, unlikable, unpleasant
- 4Relating to the body's nerves that speed up the heart and prepare you for danger.
Like a body alarm that switches on when you sense danger.
The sympathetic nerves make your heart beat faster when you are scared.
During a fright, the sympathetic system widens your pupils and tenses your muscles.
Oppositeparasympathetic
Note
- 5Relating to musical sounds made when one string vibrates because another string nearby is being played.
Like one swing starting to move when another swing next to it is pushed.
The sitar has extra sympathetic strings that ring on their own.
When she struck the low note, a faint sympathetic tone came from the harp.
Note
- 6Happening because two things are linked or affect each other.
Like two ropes tied together, so moving one makes the other move too.
A sympathetic crack opened in the wall when the next building was demolished.
The two old clocks fell into a sympathetic rhythm on the same shelf.
Note
- 7In magic, a hidden link between two things that look alike or match in some way.
Like thinking that hurting a toy doll could hurt the real person it stands for.
She believed sympathetic magic could heal her friend by treating his photograph.
In the old tale, a sympathetic spell tied the doll's fate to the prince.
Note
- 8Made or planned in a careful way that fits well with what is around it.
Like building a new shed in the same color and style as your house.
The new wing was sympathetic to the old building's style.
They wanted a sympathetic repair that matched the original stone.
Similarsensitive, appropriate, fitting
Oppositeunsympathetic, insensitive
Note
- 9A nerve that belongs to the body's fight-or-flight system.
When the dog barked, his sympathetics made his heart race and his hands sweat.
Damage to a sympathetic can change how the eye responds to light.
Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of sympathetic apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Latin sympathēticus. It came into English in the mid-1600s, at first meaning a special or hidden influence between things.