WordValeempathetic
able to understand others' feelings
In more detail
1. (adjective) able to understand and share the feelings of another person
2. (adjective) showing sympathy and concern for other people's emotions
Examples
- 1. An empathetic teacher listens carefully to students' problems and tries to help.
- 2. She gave an empathetic response when her friend told her about his difficulties.
How to use empathetic
Empathetic describes the capacity to genuinely understand and vicariously experience another person's emotions, often implying active engagement with their feelings. It is widely used in healthcare, counseling, education, and interpersonal contexts to denote someone who goes beyond mere politeness to truly connect with others' emotional states. It is slightly more focused on emotional understanding than the broader 'compassionate' and is often preferred in professional and psychological contexts.
Common phrases
- empathetic approach
- empathetic listener
- empathetic response
- deeply empathetic
- more empathetic
- empathetic towards
Synonyms
compassionate · sympathetic · understanding · sensitive · caring
Opposites
callous · indifferent · unsympathetic
Word family
empathy (noun) · empathetically (adverb)
A common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse empathetic with sympathetic; empathy involves imaginatively sharing feelings, while sympathy is more about expressing concern or pity without necessarily feeling what the other person feels.
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