empathize

empathize with (someone or something)

To feel someone else's emotions along with them; to see or understand things from someone else's position or perspective. I used to resent my dad for the placid way he is with our domineering mother, but now that I've grown up a bit, I'm able to empathize with him and have a greater appreciation for what he must be going through. I can really empathize with Maggie because my mom died when I was a kid, too, and it was a devastating experience.
See also: empathize
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

empathize with someone or something

to have an understanding about the way someone feels; to feel emotional pain with someone. I can really empathize with what you must be going through. I've been through the same thing. I empathize with people who have the same family problems that I have.
See also: empathize
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • empathize with
  • empathize with (someone or something)
  • come over
  • ride (one's) coattails
  • ride on (one's) coattails
  • ride on coattails
  • ride on someone's/something's coat-tails
  • ride (on) the coattails of (someone)
  • on the coattails of (someone)
  • on the coat-tails of someone/something
References in periodicals archive
He can be taught to empathize with Toms ignorance of his own fear of the dark, and taught to behave differently when someone does something that accidentally upsets him.
What is empathy and how do you develop the ability to empathize with other people?
Although the book is a parable with significant religious symbolism woven through its pages, one can easily empathize with his responses and gain a greater understanding of the human spirit.
(19) The first challenge is to be an empathetic individual; it is difficult over a duration of time to continually be a true listener and empathize with the other individual.
The psychologists also asked a series of situational questions designed to assess the volunteers' communication and listening skills, as well as their ability to solve problems and empathize. To qualify, volunteers had to be approved by a psychologist and ranked highly by their colleagues.
I empathize with several of the situations because I've worked in both public accounting and private industry.
Washington, Oct 17 ( ANI ): A new study has revealed that as sanctuary-kept chimpanzees grow from infant to juvenile, they develop increased susceptibility to human yawn contagion, possibility due to their increasing ability to empathize.
We certainly do empathize with the struggles you and your wife have experienced, but this does not justify ignorance of Catholic teaching which has been available for decades.
Readers will ponder the nature of gifts and curses, and empathize with Orrec as he struggles to make his way in this strange, vaguely medieval world.
Buffer didn't merely empathize with the alienated, dominated, and oppressed.
I can empathize with William Norman Grigg's concerns in "Casting Aside Justice" (August 8 issue) about presidents giving themselves unlimited power to designate an "enemy combatant" as such and deny these individuals constitutional safeguards.
They don't evolve, and we don't empathize with them, making it difficult to really know them and in turn to care about them.
As well, Charles Warren, CDC'S lead scientist on the survey, who stressed that first, specific gender programmes must be developed that empathize the serious health consequences of tobacco use, including poor reproductive health, and "second, the widespread use of other tobacco products in addition to cigarettes in many countries means that tobacco control programs must be broad in scope."
The reader will empathize with Suzie, who feels as if she is trapped inside a box and is desperately trying to make sense of her world.
Although they dominated the scene a century ago, Peter Behrens and contemporaries such as Olbrich and van de Velde seem so remote to us now that it is hard to imagine, let alone empathize with, the excitement of their work when new, or to credit them with the intellectual profundity they felt they had achieved.