empathy

empathy — noun

1. the human capacity to understand what another person is feeling, almost as if yo

1.nounB2
Definition

the human capacity to understand what another person is feeling, almost as if you were experiencing their emotions yourself

Example

Noor showed great empathy for her colleague, who struggled after losing two team members.

collocation: show empathy for [someone]

Sari's speech was full of empathy, and many listeners said they felt truly understood.

Common collocations
  • show empathy
  • feel empathy
  • have empathy
  • lack empathy
  • deep empathy
  • great empathy
  • true empathy
  • empathy for
  • empathy with
  • empathy between
  • sense of empathy
  • build empathy
Synonyms
  • sympathy

    focuses on concern or pity rather than shared understanding

  • compassion

    adds an active desire to help someone who is suffering

  • understanding

    broader and less emotional; can mean simply grasping someone's situation

  • sensitivity

    emphasizes awareness of others' feelings rather than sharing them

Antonyms
  • indifference

    complete lack of interest in how others feel

  • apathy

    general lack of emotion or concern

Grammar Patterns

empathy + for + person

empathy + with + person

empathy + between + groups

Usage Note

Frequently contrasted with sympathy. Empathy means sharing an understanding of someone's feelings; sympathy means feeling concern or pity for someone's situation. Common preposition patterns: empathy for (more common) and empathy with.

Common Mistakes

I have empathy for your loss' (when you haven't shared that experience).
I have sympathy for your loss.
'sympathy' expresses concern, while 'empathy' implies understanding through shared or imagined experience.

Word family

  • empathetic
    adjectiveB2
  • empathic
    adjectiveC1
  • empathize
    verbB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Empathy and sympathy are the most easily confused pair. Sympathy is feeling concern or sorrow for someone else's hardship — you stay in your own emotional position. Empathy goes further: you try to imagine yourself in their place and feel what they feel. Compassion overlaps with both but adds a drive to act; a compassionate person not only understands suffering but wants to relieve it. Understanding is the broadest term here — it can mean simply grasping a person's reasons or viewpoint without any emotional sharing at all. Pity is the most distant: it looks down on someone's misfortune, which can feel condescending. In everyday use, saying 'I feel empathy for you' suggests you are trying to connect emotionally; 'I feel sympathy for you' offers comfort from the outside.

sympathy ↗compassion ↗understanding ↗pity ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • sense of empathy
  • lack of empathy
  • show empathy toward

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekGermanEnglish

Empathy entered English from psychology in the early 20th century. It was adapted from the German word Einfühlung ('feeling into'), which psychologists used to describe the act of projecting oneself into a work of art or another person's mind. The German term was built from ein ('in') and Fühlung ('feeling'). The English form was modelled on the Greek roots em- ('in') and pathos ('feeling, emotion'), following the pattern of the earlier word 'sympathy'.