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empathy

EM-puh-thee /ˈɛmpəθi/

nounB2GRESATTOEFLIELTS

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The psychological ability to understand and vicariously experience the feelings, thoughts, and condition of another person.

Focuses on internal imaginative substitution — stepping directly into someone else's emotional shoes rather than merely feeling sorry for them.

The story behind the word. Coined in the early 20th century by psychologist Edward Titchener, 'empathy' was created as a direct translation of the German aesthetic term 'Einfühlung' ('feeling into'). German scholars initially used it to describe how an art viewer mentally projects their own feelings into a painting or sculpture before psychologists applied it to interpersonal relationships.

Word relationships

vicarious understanding: Emphasizes the indirect, secondary experiencing of another's emotions.
attunement: Refers more to ongoing sensory and emotional alignment with another person's state.

apathy: Total lack of interest, feeling, or concern for others.
callousness: Active emotional hardness or unfeeling disregard for pain.

Commonly confused with

sympathy: Sympathy is feeling compassion or sorrow for someone; empathy is feeling their experience as if it were your own.

Word family

empathetic (adjective): Showing or feeling an understanding of another's emotions.
empathize (verb): To understand and share the feelings of another.
empath (noun): A person with an extraordinary capacity to feel others' emotional states.

Collocations

deep empathy
empathy fatigue
cultivate empathy
demonstrate empathy

Idioms & expressions

walk in someone else's shoes

Example sentences

"Empathy enables us to cross the boundary between self and other, allowing readers to inhabit minds fundamentally different from their own." Literature analysis
"Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives." Non-fiction quote (Oprah Winfrey)

Memory hook

Think of entering the 'PATH' of someone else's 'EM-otions' to feel what they feel inside. EM-pathy = entering someone's emotional PATH.

When not to use

Do not confuse with sympathy, which implies feeling pity or sorrow for another's distress without necessarily sharing their experience.

Fun facts

The word 'empathy' is barely a century old in English, despite describing a timeless human trait.
Neuroscientists attribute our capacity for empathy to mirror neurons in the prefrontal cortex.