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Definition of "empathy" []

  • Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives. See Synonyms at pity. (noun)
  • The attribution of one's own feelings to an object. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "empathy" in a sentence
  • "The term empathy first appeared in the work of a German psychologist, Theodore Lipps, toward the end of the nineteenth century."
  • "For many conservatives, empathy is code for caring too much about, and being too soft on, woman and minorities."
  • "It is legitimate to be afraid that empathy is code for results-oriented jurisprudence, but empathy does not have to be such a codeword."