to sympathize with
- phrasal verb
- /ˈsɪmpəˌθaɪz wɪð/
- It's hard not to sympathize with someone who has lost a loved one.
- readers sympathize with
- sympathize with the character
- tend to sympathize with
You're not going to sympathize with the bad guys, are you?
- You're not going to sympathize with the bad guys, are you?
- Do not, however, hesitate to sympathize with him as far as words go.
- You have to sympathize with the way this young man grew up.
- Now, he says when he said it, he only meant to sympathize with the parents.
- Cohen, maybe now you'll sympathize with Stormy Daniels because Donald Trump has screwed you both yesterday.
- I have learned my lesson and I truly sympathize with the hundreds of thousands who have been gravely ill or lost their lives from this pandemic.
- And, and, and I, I sympathize with, with both of those things.
- So I, I certainly sympathize with with those needs.
- So essentially it's like, listen, when we're all struggling, we more sympathize with the struggle, right?
- But but then you try and sympathise with them.
- So I, I, I sympathize with Cam.
Examples
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The question I started with was whether other readers would sympathize with Ned, in spite of his cowardice.
Academic text (2010) -
I sympathize with your problem, but I have my own right now.
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You have to sympathize with the way this young man grew up.
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Should I say that I sympathize with you?
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As a woman, I sympathize with you.
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One cannot but sympathize with these teachers who work outside their villages and towns.
Academic text (1994) -
I sympathize with you, Hector.
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We all sympathize with your ordeal, Dr. Widmark, but if you just sort of... - I just never saw anybody die before.
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I have learned my lesson and I truly sympathize with the hundreds of thousands who have been gravely ill or lost their lives from this pandemic.
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I completely sympathize with your situation after hearing your story.
Synonyms
Be sorry for someone who is unhappy or for something you did wrong
To feel sorry for someone who is suffering
To feel or show care and understanding for someone who is unhappy
Have sympathy for someone who is suffering
To understand and share another person's feelings by imagining what they feel
To feel or show sympathy for someone who is suffering
To understand and share someone's sadness when they are having a hard time
To express sympathy to someone for a death or loss
Antonyms
How Sympathetic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly composed from 'sympathize' (to share or feel compassion) plus the preposition 'with' indicating the person whose feelings are shared; the prepositional marker simply identifies the target. This is a regular verb + preposition construction found across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The verb sympathize with comes from old Greek words meaning 'feel together', a picture of two people having the same feeling. So, to sympathize with someone is to 'share or understand' their sadness or pain.