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empathy

EM-puh-thee /ˈempəθi/

nounB2IELTSTOEFLGRE

generalacademic

The capacity to understand, share, and resonate with the feelings and experiences of another person.

Requires feeling with someone, stepping into their emotional perspective, rather than feeling pity from afar.

The story behind the word. Coined in 1909 by psychologist Edward Titchener as a translation of the German aesthetic term 'Einfühlung' ('feeling into'). It quickly moved from art appreciation into psychology to describe human connection.

Word relationships

sympathy: Sympathy is feeling sorrow for someone's plight, whereas empathy is sharing and feeling with their experience.
compassion: Compassion adds an active urge to help or relieve suffering to the underlying emotional resonance.

apathy: Apathy is complete lack of emotion, feeling, or interest.
callousness: Callousness is insensitive disregard for others' feelings.

Commonly confused with

sympathy: Sympathy maintains distance ('I feel sorry for you'), while empathy bridges distance ('I feel what you feel').

Word family

empathetic (adjective): Showing or understanding empathy.
empathize (verb): To share or understand feelings.

Collocations

build empathy
show empathy
empathy and compassion
lack of empathy

Idioms & expressions

walk in someone else's shoes

Example sentences

"By modeling kindness, teachers help preschool children build empathy for classmates who feel sad." Social-emotional learning overview

Memory hook

EMpathy puts you EMbedded in someone else's PATHOS (feelings). Feeling inside someone else's heart.

When not to use

Do not confuse with agreement or taking another's side in a legal dispute.

Fun facts

Neuroscientists discovered 'mirror neurons' in the 1990s, which provide a biological basis for empathy.