1. Empathy is the capacity to share the sadness or happiness of another sentient being through consciousness rather than physically. Empathy develops the ability to have compassion towards other beings.
2. The intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing ofthe feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
Personal definition: The ability to share feelings or emotions, or understand the feelings and emotions of others.
part of speech: noun
other forms: empathetic, empathetically
Sentences:
Yesterday i saw that boy hold his grandpa's wrinkly hand in the most empathetic way, as if he told him he was dying.
I had to be empathetic with my sister yesterday, she got promoted to boss, and couldn't be happier!
em-puh-thee
The word empathy isn't used as much as it could be. It's a simple little word, that gets forgotten about a lot, and it isn't one of the trickier words out there. It could easily be used everyday, anywhere, especially with a girl, because they're always sharing feelings. I think i would like to hear it being used more often, because it's practical, and logical to use it to anyone. At a funeral, or at a wedding, you could use it at both!
Antonym::
My word is almost the opposite of sympathy because empathy is more of a mutual feeling, and sympathy is more of a pity, feeling sorry for them feeling, but not really having experienced it.
Synonym:
comprehension is a lot like my word, because having empathy is like knowing, and understanding what they're going through, and relating, and sharing your feelings and emotions. So comprehension is almost like understanding, and knowing.
I give empathy a 4 out of 5 stars. I think that the fact people don't use empathy that often knocks the five star rating off the table. I think if people gave empathy a shot, and understood that the definition is not that tricky, then it would get that last star back!
this is an example of empathy, the old ladies share the mutual feeling of "losing" their husbands, and can give support to one another in a difficult time like this.
SOURCES:
1."Empathy." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy>.
2. "Empathy | Define Empathy at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/empathy>.
