1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

empathy

noun

Definition of empathynext
as in compassion
the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions He felt great empathy toward the poor.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 empathy In a second the players were there, every single player was there, stopping celebrations, building a shield, protecting Jordan, not going anywhere, in full empathy. — Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026 Accurso describes herself as having an overdeveloped sense of empathy. — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026 Important skills that were historically undervalued, like empathy, listening and emotional intelligence, are now valued as real strengths. — Wwd Staff, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026 In rejecting his release in 2021, Newsom said Davis had continued to minimize his role in the crimes and shown a lack of empathy for his victims. — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for empathy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for empathy
  1. sympathy
  2. pity
  3. compassion
  4. kindness
  5. understanding
Noun
  • These sensual glimmers are no match for the antagonistic sociality of straight male relationships, which, in this novel, quickly convert sympathy or desire into rivalry and aggression.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Greta, Fritz and the pastor each quietly reject the death drive of the mayor, whose Nazi sympathies wind up coming back to haunt his own family.
    — Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of sympathy
Noun
  • All eyes were trained in my direction, watching my every move, all conveying their pity.
    — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Years later, Nelson is married to Linda (pity poor Tatyana Ali, saddled with an almost comically underwritten, saintly-supportive-partner role) and is raising her son as his own.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of pity
Noun
  • His political superpower has never been his breadth of knowledge, intelligence, compassion or his empathy.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Eventually released, the resentful ex-con experiences a Damascene conversion due to the Christian compassion of Monseigneur Myriel (Frédéric Pierrot).
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of compassion
Noun
  • In fact, avoiding a necessary conversation often isn’t kindness at all.
    — Farida Abjani, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Now, his family and the local community are mourning the teen known for his extraordinary kindness.
    — Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of kindness
Noun
  • The two sides agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding on strengthening crisis communications and preventing crises between the two militaries, China’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday in its readout.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026
  • By 1926, Caltech was running the Seismo Lab with the Carnegie Institution, where seismologists like Beno Gutenberg and Charles Richter would deepen our understanding of earthquakes.
    — Danny Robb, JSTOR Daily, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of understanding

Browse Nearby Words

empathizing (with)
empathy
emperor
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Empathy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/empathy. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on empathy

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about empathy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fungible

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All