an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion
"his sympathies were always with the underdog"
"I knew I could count on his understanding"
sharing the feelings of others (especially feelings of sorrow or anguish)
"When she heard about his loss, her face showed deep sympathy as she silently shared in his grief."
a relation of affinity or harmony between people; whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other
"the two of them were in close sympathy"
A feeling of pity or sorrow for the suffering or distress of another.
"She offered her sympathy to the family after hearing about their tragic loss."
The formal expression of pity or sorrow for someone else's misfortune.
"The community gathered to offer their sympathy to the family who lost their home in the fire."
In plain English: Sympathy is feeling sad for someone else because they are going through something difficult.
"She offered her sympathy to her friend after losing their job."
Usage: Use sympathy to describe your internal feelings of pity and sorrow when hearing about someone else's bad luck, rather than as a specific action you take. Distinguish it from empathy by noting that sympathy involves acknowledging pain without necessarily sharing the emotional experience yourself.
Borrowed from Middle French sympathie, from Late Latin sympathīa ("feeling in common"), from Ancient Greek σῠμπᾰ́θειᾰ (sŭmpắtheiă, "fellow feeling"), from σῠμπᾰθής (sŭmpăthḗs, "affected by like feelings; exerting mutual influence, interacting") + -ῐᾰ (-ĭă, "-y", nominal suffix). Equivalent to sym- ("acting or considered together") + -pathy ("feeling").