Synonyms of empathetic

empathetic

adjective

ˌem-pə-ˈthe-tik 

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

• compassionate
• sympathetic
• empathic
• humane
• understanding
• gentle
• loving
• affectionate
• warm
• benevolent
• commiserative
• feeling
• perceptive
• sensitive
• gracious
• merciful
• considerate
• friendly
• kind
• charitable
• magnanimous
• kindly
• kindhearted
• tolerant
• lenient
• pitying
• softhearted
• good-natured
• warmhearted
• tenderhearted
• congenial
• bighearted
• cordial
• benignant
• tender
• good-tempered
• largehearted
• genial
• well-disposed
• clement
• ruthful

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unsympathetic
• callous
• heartless
• inhuman
• hard
• unfeeling
• insensitive
• obdurate
• inhumane
• indifferent
• thoughtless
• cold-blooded
• aloof
• insensate
• unthinking
• inconsiderate
• uncaring
• cool
• uninterested
• coldhearted
• hard-hearted
• unfriendly
• ruthless
• pitiless
• unloving
• merciless
• severe
• bigoted
• tough
• brutal
• stern
• harsh
• hostile
• unaffectionate
• oppressive
• grim
• unrelenting
• abusive
• rough
• unkind
• malicious
• spiteful
• ungentle
• disagreeable
• surly
• hateful
• malevolent
• virulent
• mean
• blinkered
• acrimonious
• narrow-minded
• rancorous
• small-minded
• hard-bitten
• hard-boiled
• ill-tempered
• ill-natured

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of empathetic

Hope for a more empathetic, more cooperative, more peaceful, more equal, more united society. — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 30 June 2026

Kiawentiio portrays the empathetic, steadfast waterbender Katara, who unfreezes Aang and becomes close friends with him. — Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 27 June 2026

Burrows played himself as smart, empathetic, crotchety and, despite generations of experience under his belt, entirely forward-looking. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 19 June 2026

According to an article in Nature Reviews Psychology, seeing others in pain often recruits the same brain systems as feeling pain ourselves, and can be distressing, especially for highly empathetic people. — Michele Promaulayko, Allure, 17 June 2026