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Comment by User23

The American Heritage Dictionary[1][2] and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary [3][4] are two that come to mind, but I'm sure that you can find others.

As usual m-w is much sloppier when it comes to making distinctions between similar words, due to their philosophy that common misuse redefines words[5], but even they make a pretty clear distinction between empathy and sympathy and it's clear that sympathy is the one where one actually emotes with the subject.

[1] https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=empathy

[2] https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=sympathy

[3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy

[4] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sympathy

[5] And they aren't even entirely wrong, as anyone can literally tell you.

parent User23 5 years ago

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