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political sympathies

political sympathies

4.1
Feelings and opinions about politics that show which side someone supports
  • noun
  • /pəˈlɪtɪkəl ˈsɪmpəθiz/
translation icon : simpatías políticas
  • It's important to understand others' political sympathies when discussing sensitive topics like immigration.

Examples

  • Her political sympathies are evident in the articles she writes for the local newspaper.

  • His abuse of power is, moreover, a particularly Soviet abuse, which makes this story, like "The Prodigal Son Returns Home," ambiguous in its political sympathies.

    Academic text (1999)
  • And so it came to pass that a generation later it was defined by persons with quite different political sympathies.

    Academic text (1992)
  • At school, I think I consorted more readily with girls with similar political sympathies and identified with the Gaullist Resistance rather than with Jewish victims.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Who was I to lecture them on the immorality of war, and why should they be swayed by arguments borrowed from a French woman of suspicious political sympathies?

    Academic text (2000)
  • PC's emphasis on victim groups is a calcification of the political sympathies of the sixties into a repressive orthodoxy.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Malcolm, the male bastion of suburban conservatism, thought these political sympathies adorably female and unbelievably ridiculous.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Quite independent of what one's political sympathies may be, such bias is objectionable on a host of pedagogical grounds, especially when it drives authors to commit the very errors of reasoning that their own texts are supposed to correct.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Two women on the directorship who were nonpracticing Catholics from families with political sympathies to the left became conscientious intermediaries with the church, consulting one or another of the priests to plan fundraising and festival events.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Although the political complexities of the era are beyond the scope of this brief article, the gist is that Sukarno, the old-guard leader of the revolution, was perceived by the army and Islamic leaders to be dangerously close to the Chinese Communist Party in his political sympathies.

    Academic text (1993)

Synonyms

politics
vspolitical sympathies
277 4.2

A person's beliefs about government and public issues

is more about personal feelings that show which side someone supports
sympathy
vspolitical sympathies
110 1.7

A feeling that makes you support a person or group

is similar but limited to opinions or feelings about public issues
partisanship
vspolitical sympathies
65 7.4

Strong support for one group or view that ignores other views

is more about general opinions or feelings without strong bias
political orientation
vspolitical sympathies
1 5.3

A person or group's beliefs about government and public issues and the side they support

is about personal feelings that indicate which side someone supports
partyism
vspolitical sympathies
9.1

Strong support for a political party that makes people ignore other views and treat opponents unfairly

expresses similar support but as general opinions rather than strong loyalty

Antonyms

A lack of interest in things, even important ones

How Supportive

partisanship
65 7.4
commitment
829 3.3
loyalty
503 1.3
political sympathies
4.1
to support
1.0
neutrality
22 4.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

political + sympathy

The phrase combines 'political' (relating to politics) with 'sympathy' (an inclination to support), so a learner who knows both words can readily infer it refers to someone's political leanings or whom they support. This is a common, compositional collocation with clear cross-linguistic parallels, making it immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Political sympathies come from the idea of feeling with or liking a political group. Sympathies are the feelings you have for people or ideas, and political shows the area. Imagine someone quietly 'leaning' toward one side — that's why political sympathies means which side you 'support' or prefer.