Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
empathic

empathic

15 4.6
To understand and share other people's feelings
  • adjective
  • /ɛmˈpæθɪk/
translation icon : empático
  • Being an empathic friend means being able to truly understand what others are feeling.
  • empathic concern
  • empathic listening
  • empathic connection

Overwhelmingly all they want and all they need is for us to listen and be empathic.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Participants in the affective perspective-taking condition reported greater empathic arousal than control participants.

    Academic text (1996)

  • It's a very empathic story that just sticks with you.

  • I was simply being an empathic witness, being led by her through this town.

  • Listening to one another is a good beginning foundation for the empathic engagement essential for connected knowing.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Maybe you need those moments to just remind you to keep being that empathic person.

  • It's being super empathic and feeling other people's feelings to the point where I could cry.

  • Many people who are highly empathic are conflict averse.

  • In a similar manner, the empathic participants wanted to make a more favorable impression.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Others struggled with the apparent absence of empathic, patient-centered care.

    Academic text (2011)

  • In order to achieve a mature, empathic resonance with your partner, you've got to share your feelings.

    He Said, She Said (1991)

Synonyms

sympathetic
vsempathic
152 3.4

Feeling or showing kindness and understanding to someone who is upset

shares feelings with others rather than only offering kind understanding
compassionate
vsempathic
151 3.7

Feeling concern and care for people who suffer

focuses on feeling and sharing others' emotions rather than helping
understanding
vsempathic
50 3.6

Showing sympathy and care for other people's feelings

shares and feels others' emotions directly rather than only observing them
empathetic
vsempathic
30 4.4

To understand and share other people's feelings

means the same but uses the less common spelling
commiserative
vsempathic
7.9

Showing sympathy to someone who feels sad or has trouble

shares feelings more generally not only in cases of misfortune

Antonyms

unsympathetic
7 4.9

Not feeling sorry for someone or caring about their problems

How Empathic

compassionate
151 3.7
empathic
15 4.6
understanding
50 3.6
insensitive
124 4.6

Surface Forms

empathic positive

Morphology

empathic = empathy (transparent) = empathy + ic

Formed from the noun 'empathy' with the productive adjective-forming suffix '-ic', so the meaning 'relating to empathy' is directly derivable.

Etymology

Empathic comes from Greek parts em- meaning 'in' and pathos meaning 'feeling'. Think of it as 'feeling into' someone, which is why an empathic person can understand and share another person's feelings.