sympathy

sympathy
noun (U)
1 the feeling of being sorry for someone who is in a bad situation and understanding how they feel: He wants your sympathy so he's pretending to be sick. | have/feel sympathy for sb: I've a lot of sympathy for her; she brought up the children on her own. | have no sympathy for sb (=feel that someone deserves something bad that is happening to them) | play on sb's sympathy (=make someone feel sorry for you in order to gain an advantage for yourself) | you have my deepest sympathy formal (=used in a letter to someone whose close relative has died) | offer your sympathy formal: She wrote a letter offering her sympathy. | message/letter of sympathy: The victim's parents have received thousands of messages of sympathy.
2 be in sympathy with also have sympathy for to agree with and support someone's aims and actions: We have a lot of sympathy for your stand on lower taxes.
3 come out in sympathy (with sb) to strike 1 (4) in order to give support to other people who are striking: The miners were on strike and the railwaymen came out in sympathy.
4 sympathies (plural)
a) feelings of support and approval: sb's sympathies lie with: Anne's sympathies lie firmly with the Conservative Party.
b) a message of comfort to someone who is very upset because someone has died
 —see also: tea and sympathy tea (5)
5 (U) a feeling that you understand someone because you are similar to them

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • sympathy — sym‧pa‧thy [ˈsɪmpəθi] noun 1. come out in sympathy HUMAN RESOURCES if workers come out in sympathy with workers who strike (= refuse to work), they refuse to work as well: • The truck drivers are on strike, and other employees have downed tools ( …   Financial and business terms

  • Sympathy — Sym pa*thy, n.; pl. {Sympathies}. [F. sympathie, L. sympathia, Gr. ?; sy n with + ? suffering, passion, fr. ?, ?, to suffer. See {Syn }, and {Pathos}.] 1. Feeling corresponding to that which another feels; the quality of being affected by the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • sympathy — 1 *attraction, affinity Analogous words: reciprocality, correspondence (see corresponding adjectives at RECIPROCAL): *harmony, consonance, accord, concord Antonyms: antipathy 2 Sympathy, pity, compassion, commiseration, condolence, ruth, empathy… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Sympathy — is a social affinity in which one person stands with another person, closely understanding his or her feelings. The word derives from the Greek συμπάθεια ( sympatheia ) [ [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi… …   Wikipedia

  • sympathy — 1570s, affinity between certain things, from M.Fr. sympathie, from L.L. sympathia community of feeling, sympathy, from Gk. sympatheia, from sympathes having a fellow feeling, affected by like feelings, from syn together + pathos feeling (see… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Sympathy — ist ein Death Metal Projekt aus Kanada. Biografie Anfang der 90er Jahre gründete Dharok die Band Sympathy mit drei Freunden in Saskatchewan, Kanada. Zwei Jahre später, nach der ersten Demo Aufnahme und ein Debüt Album, verließen die drei Freunde… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • sympathy — [n1] shared feeling accord, affinity, agreement, alliance, attraction, benignancy, close relation, commiseration, compassion, concord, congeniality, connection, correspondence, empathy, feelings, fellow feeling, harmony, heart, kindliness,… …   New thesaurus

  • sympathy — ► NOUN (pl. sympathies) 1) feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else s misfortune. 2) understanding between people; common feeling. 3) support for or approval of something. 4) (in sympathy) relating harmoniously to something else; in keeping.… …   English terms dictionary

  • sympathy — index affinity (regard), concordance, condonation, goodwill, humanity (humaneness), lenience, pity …   Law dictionary

  • sympathy — see empathy …   Modern English usage

  • sympathy — [sim′pə thē] n. pl. sympathies [L sympathia < Gr sympatheia < syn , together + pathos, feeling: see PATHOS] 1. sameness of feeling; affinity between persons or of one person for another 2. Now Rare agreement in qualities; harmony; accord 3 …   English World dictionary

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