sympathetically
adverb
Simple meaning
In a way which show a sharing in the feelings of others.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sihmpuhthehtihkuhleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
sɪmpəˈθɛtɪkəli
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
In a manner which demonstrates a sharing in the feelings of others; compassionately.
Owing to or showing evidence of sympathy, or affinity; happening through or demonstrating correspondences, whether occult or physiological.
In a sympathetic manner
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: In a manner which demonstrates a sharing in the feelings of others; compassionately.
Used this way, sympathetically is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Kind and considerate
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to of or relating to the sympathetic nervous system.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: in a manner which demonstrates a sharing in the feelings of others
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.