Sympathy:
2: feeling of loyalty : tendency to favor or support
3: the act or capacity of entering into or sharing the feelings or interests of another
Empathy:
1: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another
Sympathy comes from Latin's sympathia and Greek's sympatheia, meaning to have common feelings. Empathy comes from Greek's empatheia, meaning passion. Both have the root of Pathos to mean feelings and emotions, and therefore, refer to a caring response to another person's, emotional state or experience. However, they differ in the type of response. Sympathy comes from a place of sincere concern, while Empathy engages a sharing of the emotional state or experience. These two feelings, when expressed, also trigger different parts of the brain, enhancing this distinction. When feeling sympathy, the thinking part of the brain lights up, but when someone feels empathy, the brain will mirror the other person's experience and the anterior insula and the cingulate cortex will light up as if they're in pain as well.
Imtiaz, Z. (2025, August 23). Empathy vs sympathy. Psychologus. https://psychologus.net/empathy-vs-sympathy/
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Empathy. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 13, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Sympathy. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 13, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sympathy
