sympathizer

Noun

sympathizer (plural sympathizers)

1. (derogatory, often) A person who sympathizes (with a political cause, a side in a conflict, etc.); a supporter.
   • His reputation was ruined when it was revealed that he had been a Nazi sympathizer before the war.
   • […] she exposed herself to the fury of the sympathizers with slavery, without fear, and suffered their blows without flinching.1869, Sarah Hopkins Bradford, Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, Auburn, NY: W.J. Moses, page 102
2. (archaic) A person who has, shows or expresses sympathy (with another person or people); a person who enters into the feelings of another.
   • […] it is a sad case when the truly godly, who are cordial sympathizers, and earnest intercessours in the straits of a Nation, are stricken dumb in a day of calamity […]1655, George Hutcheson, A Brief Exposition on the XII Small Prophets, London: Ralph Smith, Prophecy of Amos, page 157
   • […] I am a sympathizer in every part of thy distress, except (and yet it is cruel to say it) in That which arises from thy guilt.1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LX”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume VII, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 220