adj

empathetic

ehm-puh-THEH-tihk

adj

Showing an understanding of and sensitivity toward other people's feelings.

"The nurse was calm and empathetic with anxious patients."

"A good manager needs to be empathetic when staff are struggling."

How to Use Empathetic

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishGood at understanding and sharing how other people feel.

Common mistake

Both "empathetic" and "empathic" are correct and mean the same thing — "empathetic" is simply more common in everyday use.

Easily confused with

empathic sympathetic →

Common pairings

empathetic listener empathetic response

more empathetic comparative, most empathetic superlative

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Can you complete this real example?

The nurse was calm and _____ with anxious patients.

A later variant of "empathic," reshaped to sound closer to "sympathetic."

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