as in compassionate
having or showing the capacity for sharing the feelings of another
an empathetic social worker who soon realized that the single mother was at her breaking point
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of empathetic
David McBean is surprisingly empathetic as the usually villainous landlord Benny Coffin.
—
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 June 2026
Zendaya and Domingo do great, resonant work, but even their empathetic portraits of suffering people can’t make this strange coda cohere.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 1 June 2026
The Hidden Risk In Human-Like AI Large language models (LLMs) promise a future of seamless, empathetic and intelligent customer service.
—Jerry Haywood, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Underlying it all, many Knicks supporters felt Dolan was infuriatingly un-self aware or, at least, not empathetic to fans' plight.
—Alex Sherman, CNBC, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for empathetic
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 June 2026
Zendaya and Domingo do great, resonant work, but even their empathetic portraits of suffering people can’t make this strange coda cohere.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 1 June 2026
The Hidden Risk In Human-Like AI Large language models (LLMs) promise a future of seamless, empathetic and intelligent customer service.
—Jerry Haywood, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Underlying it all, many Knicks supporters felt Dolan was infuriatingly un-self aware or, at least, not empathetic to fans' plight.
—Alex Sherman, CNBC, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for empathetic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for empathetic
Adjective
-
Back in 2014, the company secured FDA authorization for a compassionate-use protocol allowing the Hemopurifier to be used in up to 20 patients with Ebola across 10 clinical sites in the United States.—
Elie Dolgin,
IEEE Spectrum,
4 June 2026
-
Advice on relationships, family, work and everyday life with practical, compassionate guidance and a touch of humor.—
R Eric Thomas,
Baltimore Sun,
4 June 2026
Adjective
-
Avenatti isn’t sympathetic to Bankman-Fried’s appeals.—
Camila Grigera Naon,
Fortune,
9 June 2026
-
Even some people who are sympathetic to Carl’s concerns see problems with his prescription.—
Thomas Chatterton Williams,
The Atlantic,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Empathetic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/empathetic. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
