Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

sympathetic

 adjective
     
sym‧pa‧thet‧ic
1 caring and feeling sorry about someone's problems:
a sympathetic friend
a sympathetic attitude
sympathetic to/towards
I'm sympathetic to parents who are worried about what their children see on television.
We hope always to provide a friendly sympathetic ear (=someone willing to listen to someone else's problems).
2 [not before noun] willing to give approval and support to an aim or plan
sympathetic to/towards
Senator Capp is very sympathetic to environmental issues.
3

sympathetic figure/character

literary someone in a book, play etc who most people like
4 providing the right conditions for someone:
a sympathetic environment
—sympathetically adverb:
Jill smiled sympathetically.
WORD FOCUS: kind WORD FOCUS: kind
similar words: nice, considerate, thoughtful, sympathetic, benevolent, compassionate, gentle

➔ See also kind
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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