as in sympathizing
to have the same feelings as another person; to feel empathy for someone
—often + with
He learned to empathize with the poor.
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Recent Examples of empathizing
Teammate Malinin, who also had a number of uncharacteristic mistakes in his free program and fell from first to eighth in the men’s event, watched in surprise in the arena, empathizing with the disbelief and pain on Glenn’s face.
—
Alice Park, Time, 18 Feb. 2026
For the growing Muslim community in the Bay Area, abstaining from eating or drinking during the day is regarded as an act of worship by practicing self-restraint, growing closer to God and empathizing with people who are poor and hungry.
—Nollyanne Delacruz, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
The devout see benefits, including practicing self-restraint, cultivating gratitude and empathizing with people who are poor and hungry.
—Mariam Fam, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2026
Whatever your preconceived notions about Feldman are, Hume’s film will expand and challenge them; the movie’s greatness lies in its ability to capture all of Feldman’s contradictions and self-destructiveness, empathizing with him without soft-pedaling his sins.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 23 Jan. 2026
Desai does have a Tolstoyan talent for both empathizing with and skewering the upper classes from within.
—Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2025
That is, if a child is not well-loved, or does not routinely experience others empathizing with his or her distress, then that child will learn to fear and suspect others and will be lacking empathic skills.
—Howard Steele, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
The response was either reinforcing the emotion by agreeing and empathizing or reinterpreting the situation to help the person see it differently.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
In his bite-sized segments on YouTube, Caprio is often seen empathizing with those in his courtroom.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2025
Alice Park, Time, 18 Feb. 2026
For the growing Muslim community in the Bay Area, abstaining from eating or drinking during the day is regarded as an act of worship by practicing self-restraint, growing closer to God and empathizing with people who are poor and hungry.
—Nollyanne Delacruz, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
The devout see benefits, including practicing self-restraint, cultivating gratitude and empathizing with people who are poor and hungry.
—Mariam Fam, Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2026
Whatever your preconceived notions about Feldman are, Hume’s film will expand and challenge them; the movie’s greatness lies in its ability to capture all of Feldman’s contradictions and self-destructiveness, empathizing with him without soft-pedaling his sins.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 23 Jan. 2026
Desai does have a Tolstoyan talent for both empathizing with and skewering the upper classes from within.
—Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2025
That is, if a child is not well-loved, or does not routinely experience others empathizing with his or her distress, then that child will learn to fear and suspect others and will be lacking empathic skills.
—Howard Steele, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
The response was either reinforcing the emotion by agreeing and empathizing or reinterpreting the situation to help the person see it differently.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
In his bite-sized segments on YouTube, Caprio is often seen empathizing with those in his courtroom.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for empathizing
Verb
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The rescue dog from Huntington Beach, California, who worked as a dedicated therapy dog comforting veterans, was a five-time dog surfing world champion and was inducted into the Surfers' Hall of Fame in 2024, according to the Surfers' Hall of Fame website.—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
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For quite some time, the repetitive daily schedule was comforting for a methodical person such as myself.—
Des Moines Register,
Des Moines Register,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The close-ups of the fans who did stay in pain, looking away in disgust and consoling one another, were powerful.—
Joe Prince-Wright,
NBC news,
13 Mar. 2026
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State media has repeatedly shown Kim honoring returning North Korean soldiers who fought for Russia and consoling the families of those killed.—
Will Ripley,
CNN Money,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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That’s reassuring for Federal Reserve policymakers, who pay close attention to people’s perception of prices, particularly over the long run.—
Bryan Mena,
CNN Money,
27 Mar. 2026
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His mandate will be reassuring US consumers about the trajectory of their energy bills — gasoline is now nearly $4 per gallon on average nationwide, the highest level since 2023.—
Tim McDonnell,
semafor.com,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Bono shared a note with fans, once again assuring them that a new album is still in the works, and that these EPs are side detours on the way to a wholly separate full-length.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
3 Apr. 2026
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Pelle Larsson added 20 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for Miami (40-36), which kept some realistic hope of getting out of the play-in tournament range — or at least getting into one of the top two spots and therefore assuring itself two chances of making the playoffs — alive with the win.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Empathizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/empathizing. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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