Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use sympathetically in a sentence

11 example sentences · adverb

Sympathetically means owing to or showing evidence of sympathy, or affinity; happening through or demonstrating correspondences, whether occult or physiological. Example: “Still she didn't stir, so he patted her shoulder and added sympathetically, 'Come now, don't take it so much to heart.'”

Examples of sympathetically by meaning

adverbIn a manner which demonstrates a sharing in the feelings of others; compassionately.

  • Still she didn't stir, so he patted her shoulder and added sympathetically, 'Come now, don't take it so much to heart.'1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 90

More sentences with sympathetically

  • Large areas of mallee shrublands are now either reserved specifically for biodiversity conservation or else managed sympathetically.2002, Ross A. Bradstock, Janet S. Cohn, “Fire Regimes and Biodiversity in Semi-arid Mallee Ecosystems”, in Ross A. Bradstock, Jann E.…. From the entry mallee
  • Her companions gathered round her, twittering and meeping sympathetically, but there was nothing that anyone could do.1968, Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, I Primeval Night, 2 The New Rock, page 11. From the entry meep
  • Often, these groups would include at least one gay character who would be depicted sympathetically, if usually as desexualised.2007, Glyn Davis, Queer as folk, page 60. From the entry framily
  • At his restoration "fat Louis" was fully and sympathetically aware of his subjects' need to let bygones be bygones.2000, Clifton Fadiman, Andre Bernard, Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes. From the entry oathlet
  • At times, the sessions had the air of an encounter group, with the Colombians describing their fears and frustrations, and the American journalists listening sympathetically.1989 November 2, David E. Pitt, “Bogota Reporters Reveal Fears at Frontline of the Drug War”, in New York Times, retrieved 20 Feb 2013. From the entry encounter group
  • The sculptural void—more sympathetically developed by Moore, Hepworth (fig. 7–56), and Arp (fig. 7–5)—is better understood as an instance of the law of unintended consequences.1985, Edmund Burke Feldman, “[Sculpture] Holes, Voids, Apertures”, in Thinking About Art, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.…. From the entry unintention
  • In private, Secretary Powell, an amateur automotive mechanic, complains that old friends spend too much time sympathetically taking his temperature — “dip-sticking me,” as he puts it.2002 July 25, Todd S. Purdum, “Embattled, Scrutinized, Powell Soldiers On”, in The New York Times. From the entry dipstick
  • To put it sympathetically, historials were praised for their ability to reduce the flux of the past to an ordered, patterned account which had a satisfactory overall shape.1991, Ruth Morse, “The meaning of the past”, in Truth and Convention in the Middle Ages: Rhetoric, Representation, and Reality, Cambridge…. From the entry historial
  • Their peculiar ideas, instead of being sympathetically drawn from them, have been ruthlessly and unappreciatively crushed by the superior knowledge and arrogance of the white race.1905. Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, Article by John Davis, Page 223. From the entry unappreciatively
  • Readers can't help siding with Jane's heroines, so sympathetically portrayed in their efforts to get the right man, whereas Becky Sharp may well represent male distrust of scheming hypergamous females.2005, David P. Barash, Nanelle R. Barash, Madame Bovary's Ovaries: A Darwinian Look at Literature, Dell, published 2008, →ISBN, page 67. From the entry hypergamous

Meaning of sympathetically

  1. adverb Owing to or showing evidence of sympathy, or affinity; happening through or demonstrating correspondences, whether occult or physiological.
  2. adverb In a manner which demonstrates a sharing in the feelings of others; compassionately.

Full definition of sympathetically

Questions about sympathetically in a sentence

How do you use sympathetically in a sentence?
Sympathetically is used as an adverb. For example: “Still she didn't stir, so he patted her shoulder and added sympathetically, 'Come now, don't take it so much to heart.'”
What is a short sentence with sympathetically?
“Her companions gathered round her, twittering and meeping sympathetically, but there was nothing that anyone could do.”
What does sympathetically mean?
Sympathetically means owing to or showing evidence of sympathy, or affinity; happening through or demonstrating correspondences, whether occult or physiological.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sympathetically (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use sympathetically in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/sympathetically. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.