simpatico
UK/sɪmˈpa.tɪ.kəʊ/US/sɪmˈpæ.tə.koʊ/
simpatico adjective: having a compatible temperament or pleasing qualities.
Adjective
simpatico (comparative more simpatico, superlative most simpatico)
- Having a compatible temperament or pleasing qualities.
- Colombia is a red herring, however. The songs that became Madame X actually came together during Madonna’s two years in Portugal, where she decamped in 2017 when her son David enrolled in Benfica’s football academy. Madonna absorbed the local sounds with more of a mature, simpatico rather than...2019 June 8, Kitty Empire, “Madonna: Madame X review – a splendidly bizarre return to form”, in The Guardian
- At first, I figured he was pretending to like things that women like to seem simpatico, a feminist hustle. But no, this guy really wanted to read “Northanger Abbey.”2025 August 2, Maureen Dowd, “Attention, Men: Books Are Sexy!”, in The New York Times
- Compatible (with a person, thing, etc).
- This meant that one morning Hildon would wake up and realize that he and Lucy were not simpatico. She was afraid because this happened so often—she dreaded it—but the truth was that she did not fear men individually.2011 April 6, Ann Beattie, Love Always, Vintage, →ISBN
- 'You're my boss, and perhaps it's a good thing we're not simpático. In fact, I think it's probably for the best if we keep a certain distance between us.' To her surprise, he nodded. 'At work, yes—you are quite right.'2015, Joanna Neil, Temptation in Paradise, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 97
Examples of simpatico in a sentence
- Madonna absorbed the local sounds with more of a mature, simpatico rather than asset-stripping eye.2019 June 8, Kitty Empire, “Madonna: Madame X review – a splendidly bizarre return to form”, in The Guardian:
- "Basically, right now, you and math are just not...simpatico."2017 May 8, Cindi Madsen, Confessions of a Former Puck Bunny, Entangled: Embrace, →ISBN:
Forms of simpatico
| comparative | more simpatico |
|---|---|
| superlative | most simpatico |
Origin of simpatico
Borrowed from Italian simpatico or Spanish simpático (“nice, likeable”), ultimately from Ancient Greek σῠμπᾰ́θειᾰ (sŭmpắtheiă, “sympathy”, literally “suffering together”).
Questions about simpatico
- What does simpatico mean?
- Simpatico means having a compatible temperament or pleasing qualities.
- How do you use simpatico in a sentence?
- Madonna absorbed the local sounds with more of a mature, simpatico rather than asset-stripping eye.
- What part of speech is simpatico?
- Simpatico is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce simpatico?
- Simpatico is pronounced /sɪmˈpa.tɪ.kəʊ/ (UK).
Words near simpatico in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: simpatico (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “simpatico.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/simpatico. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
