as in compassion
the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions
He felt great empathy toward the poor.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of empathy
The obscene pay of CEOs, growing 20 times as fast as workers’ pay last year, and the obscene wealth in the tech world, with money cascading into the hands of greedy billionaires who lack empathy or even noblesse oblige.
—
Maureen Dowd,
Mercury News,
4 July 2026
As well as realization that everyone deserves love, empathy, and forgiveness.
—
Tabitha Parent,
PEOPLE,
3 July 2026
Kaling brought it back around to praising Poehler and Fey for their support, particularly at a time when empathy around fuller figures was scarce.
—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 July 2026
Love and empathy Dog School started in 2009, when former schoolteacher Adrienne Olivier was volunteering at a local animal shelter and conducting outreach activities in schools and other community spaces.
—
Patricia Huon,
Christian Science Monitor,
30 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for empathy
Maureen Dowd,
Mercury News,
4 July 2026
As well as realization that everyone deserves love, empathy, and forgiveness.
—
Tabitha Parent,
PEOPLE,
3 July 2026
Kaling brought it back around to praising Poehler and Fey for their support, particularly at a time when empathy around fuller figures was scarce.
—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 July 2026
Love and empathy Dog School started in 2009, when former schoolteacher Adrienne Olivier was volunteering at a local animal shelter and conducting outreach activities in schools and other community spaces.
—
Patricia Huon,
Christian Science Monitor,
30 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for empathy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for empathy
Noun
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Jones has an enormous amount of sympathy for his father, who was totally in over his head.
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After Kean’s statement, Representative Ritchie Torres, who has spoken about his own treatment for depression, expressed sympathy but argued that long absences from public office deserve explanation.
Noun
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And that’s a pity, because birthright citizenship brings many practical benefits to the United States today—arguments that the nation needs to hear, given the campaign being mounted against it.
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That is truly a pity because this brilliant thinker revolutionized both mathematics and physics.
Noun
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Upon Paula’s release, Karl picks her up and is his usual confusing shamble of one part compassion and two parts boundaries.
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Will Americans embrace vulnerability with compassion, or perpetuate stigma?
Noun
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All of us are invited to choose to become better human beings and to show up at work and in the world with increasing love, kindness, courage and forgiveness.
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That instinct to lean into life with curiosity, optimism, and kindness is, perhaps, America's greatest attraction.
Noun
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The Iranian regime’s apparent hesitancy to resume in-person talks is a significant step back from the high-level talks that took place in Switzerland earlier this month following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the countries.
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So the career of saying this film, not that one, gives way to a bitter understanding that the medium was indifferent to attempts at discrimination and prospects of a pantheon.
Cite this Entry
“Empathy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/empathy. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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