Able to understand and share another person’s feelings, as if you were experiencing them yourself. It often involves listening carefully and responding with care.
From 'empathy' plus the adjective suffix '-ic.' 'Empathy' comes from Greek 'empatheia' (passion, emotion), from 'en' (in) + 'pathos' (feeling, suffering). The modern psychological sense of 'feeling into' another’s experience was developed in the early 20th century.
Being empathetic isn’t just about being nice; the root literally means 'feeling inside' someone else’s experience. Your brain uses its own emotional systems to simulate what others might be going through. It’s one of the strangest tricks evolution gave us: using your own feelings to guess at someone else’s.
Empathy and care have been culturally coded as feminine traits, leading to their devaluation and to expectations that women provide emotional labor without recognition. Men showing empathy have sometimes been framed as exceptions.
Use “empathetic” as a positive trait for people of all genders, and avoid assuming that women or feminine‑presenting people will naturally provide empathy.
["understanding","compassionate","attuned to others"]
Women and caregivers of all genders have developed rich practices of empathy and care that underpin professions like nursing, teaching, and counseling.
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