Empathy vs. Sympathy | Difference & Examples
Empathy and sympathy are related words that differ in meaning. Though they’re often used interchangeably, they differ in the kind of emotional involvement they describe.
- Empathy is a noun describing the ability to relate to another person’s feelings by imagining yourself in their situation.
- Sympathy is a noun describing compassion for another person who is facing difficult circumstances or negative feelings. It suggests that you feel pity for someone but don’t necessarily fully understand their feelings.
| ‘Empathy’ in a sentence | ‘Sympathy’ in a sentence |
|---|---|
| Empathy is an essential trait for a therapist. | I have sympathy for Jane’s struggle. |
| Carl’s response showed no empathy. | Kevin has no sympathy for the less fortunate. |
| Bill is a sensitive and empathetic person. | Neil seems to be very sympathetic. |
This article describes the difference between the two words as they are normally used.
The meaning of empathy
Empathy refers to the ability to imaginatively experience another person’s emotions or thoughts. The emphasis is on relating to another person’s feelings, whether intellectually or by connecting them to your own experiences: putting yourself in their shoes.
The verb form of empathy is empathise, meaning ‘to experience empathy for someone or something’. It’s commonly followed by the preposition ‘with’. The adjectival form of empathy is empathetic (or sometimes empathic).
‘Sympathy’ to mean compassion
Sympathy is typically used to describe compassion or pity for another person’s negative feelings or circumstances. It suggests that you feel bad for them, but not necessarily that you fully understand their feelings (though it doesn’t exclude this possibility).
The verb form of sympathy is sympathise, meaning ‘to experience sympathy for someone or something’. It’s commonly followed by the word ‘with’. The adjectival form of sympathy is sympathetic.
‘Sympathy’ to mean ‘unity’
Sympathy can also be used to describe something as working in harmony or in unity with other components. It’s preceded by the word ‘in’. Sometimes an adjective is added between the words for emphasis.
Each department of the office worked in complete sympathy with the others.
‘Sympathy’ to mean ‘loyalty’
Sympathy can also be used to describe a state of loyalty or a tendency to support a certain idea or group. In this context, it’s written in the plural form.
As a young man, he had socialist sympathies.
‘My (deepest) sympathies’
My sympathies is an expression commonly used to offer condolences to someone experiencing loss or grief. My deepest sympathies is a common variation of the expression. Either expression can be used on its own or as part of a sentence.
Ursula offered her deepest sympathies to Terence.
Worksheet: Sympathy vs empathy
Do you want to test your knowledge of the difference between ’empathy’ and ‘sympathy’? Use the practice worksheet below! Fill in a form of ’empathy’ or ‘sympathy’ in each of the sentences.
- Sandra’s parents are also divorced, so she feels a lot of _______ for Dajana.
- Tyra has a lot of _______ for people struggling with poverty. She donates a third of her income to charity.
- To _______ with someone is to imaginatively experience their feelings.
- The townspeople worked in _______ with each other to extinguish the fire.
- I have neither Republican nor Democratic _______.
- I expressed my deepest _______ to the widow.
- Sandra’s parents are also divorced, so she feels a lot of empathy for Dajana.
- Here, ’empathy’ is the more appropriate option, showing that Sandra can understand Amy’s feelings because of a similar experience in her own life.
- Tyra has a lot of sympathy for people struggling with poverty. She donates a third of her income to charity.
- Here, ‘sympathy’ makes the most sense. Tyra feels compassion for the people she’s trying to help, but there’s no suggestion that she knows what it feels like to be in their situation.
- To empathise with someone is to imaginatively experience their feelings.
- The present verb form of ’empathy’ is ’empathize’.
- The townspeople worked in sympathy with each other to extinguish the fire.
- Here, ‘in sympathy’ is used to mean ‘in harmony’ or ‘in unity’.
- I have neither Republican nor Democratic sympathies.
- Here, ‘sympathies’ is used to mean ‘loyalties’ or ‘allegiances’.
- I expressed my deepest sympathies to the widow.
- ‘My sympathies’ and ‘my deepest sympathies’ are common expressions used to offer condolences to someone experiencing loss.
Other interesting language articles
If you want to know more about commonly confused words, definitions, and differences between US and UK spellings, make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.
Confused words
Definitions
US vs. UK spellings
Cite this Scribbr article
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.
Ryan, E. (2023, February 14). Empathy vs. Sympathy | Difference & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 11 November 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/frequently-confused-words/sympathy-vs-empathy/
