Sympathetic - two meanings?

[whitewinespritzerandastraw]

Not sure this is the correct topic for this, but I thought the posters in here are the most likely to know the answer so thought I would ask.

I struggle with the use of the word sympathetic.

To me, it means somebody who shows empathy and understanding towards other. Having looked it up on dictionary online an example sentence is “He also suffered from back pain so he was sympathetic.”

All good.

However, I’ve also seen people using it to describe a character as being likeable. “They were a sympathetic character.”

For example, I’ve just seen a few threads on the tv drama Unforgivable discussing the fact that the abuser is portrayed as a sympathetic character. In this instance not meaning that they show empathy and understanding towards others, but that they themselves are likeable.

I’m not suggesting that these people are wrong. I’ve seen it used very often and by intelligent people so I’m sure it’s correct.

I just don’t understand why it’s correct? Does the word actually have two meanings then? And if so, why? Because how do you draw the distinction between the two?

If I read “he was a sympathetic character” my initial thought would be “ok, so he’s kind and understanding towards others”, but generally from context can guess that they actually mean he is a likeable character and other people like him. But it is just a guess, and I can’t get my head around one word meaning two such different things.

Anyone else?

I read it as “he was a character to whom you feel sympathy”

Yes you’re right it has two meanings - (a) showing sympathy and (b) likeable.

It has an additional meaning for buildings so “the extension was sympathetic to the main house” would be one that is in-keeping with the rest of the existing building / done in a way that was appropriate to the original style

Yes, I was already thinking of the buildings use of the word when I was reading OP's post.
In a general way it's about something running alongside something/someone else in a cordial, fitting way - feelings, architectural design etc.. Is that a reasonable sentence?

@Treviarpelli yes, which is similar to the meaning of the character being likeable.

Whereas I would interpret it as being the character was sympathetic, ie the character felt sympathy towards others.

But I realise that generally when it’s written like that it means, as you say, the character is likeable and you feel sympathy towards them…..but I just find it jarring.

@Rafting2022yes, having looked it up I can see it does have the two meanings.

But that’s what I find odd.

By saying “the character was sympathetic”, it could mean either of the two meanings.

Yes, I find that use of it quite straightforward. Means it’s in keeping with the original.

I don’t have a problem with that.

it’s the other two meanings I struggle with because they mean totally different things, and there’s no real way to tell which one of them is intended.

I would always use it as “I am a sympathetic person” ie I feel sympathy for others, so “the character was sympathetic” I would take to mean the character feels sympathy for others.

But more and more when I read it I can see from the context that it’s the other meaning, “the character was sympathetic” meaning they are likeable and others will feel sympathy for them.

It also has a medical meaning:

The primary medical term associated with "sympathetic" is the sympathetic nervous system. This system is part of the autonomic nervous system, responsible for the body's "fight-or-flight" response during stress or danger. It triggers physiological changes like increased heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate.

In German and French sympathisch and sympathique mean 'likeable'. I always thought this was different to the English meaning. Would you ever say 'he was sympathetic' in English to mean he was nice, likeable etc.?

I think you’re being too literal. A ‘sympathetic character’ is likeable or relatable or likely to make the reader feel a sympathetic interest in him or her, not someone who necessarily feels sympathy for others. It’s the reader’s sympathy that is referenced. Used more readily of real people in other languages eg French. ‘Il est sympa’/ ‘He’s nice.’

The sympathetic nervous system is called that because it works in sympathy with the body’s needs. If there’s a perceived danger, it puts the fight or flight responses into gear, meaning you are physiologically ready to flee or attack.

Rebecca West uses it in a novel set mostly in the 1920s, though only published after her death — a character is wearing a silk dress the narrator likes, described as being of a ‘sympathetic lavender grey colour’.

So is the 'sympathetic lavender grey colour' one which suits the colouring of the wearer?

This is what I mean @EvokeFlow….no, you wouldn’t.

You wouldn’t say “he was sympathetic” to mean he was nice.

But for some reason, a slight change to the wording and saying “a sympathetic character” or whatever means that they are nice. Not that they feel sympathy for others. As demonstrated by @NoCowardSoulabove.

And that’s what I find strange.

You could say “I was speaking to James earlier. He wasn’t very sympathetic” and that would mean that James wasn’t showing sympathy to you, rather than James himself not being nice / likeable.

But “James is a sympathetic character” seems to mean James is likeable.

Whereas, to my mind, it should also mean that James shows sympathy to others.

I just find it strange how it switches between the two and I’ve never seen anybody acknowledge it or explain why.

@NoCowardSoul”its the readers sympathy that’s referenced”

Yes, I think this is the answer.

However it’s just not very clear to me how it’s come to be that way and I’ve never seen anybody explain it or question it.

it’s like saying “he is a jealous character” - that means he feels jealousy towards others.

But following the reasoning above, it would be the readers jealousy that was referenced, meaning that the reader would feel jealous of the character?

It doesn’t work.

So I’m just wondering how / why it works with sympathy?

Perhaps a better example would be apathetic.

”He was an apathetic character”

Does this mean the character feels apathy towards others?

Or is it the readers apathy being referenced and the reader feels apathy towards the character?

Does anybody see where I’m coming from?

all the meanings described here are very similar and refer to the root of the word from the Greek sym (with, together) and pathos (feeling or suffering). Sympathy refers to alignment to a path, going together with something. In the case of a sympathetic character, likeable is more a second interpretation of the actual meaning of a character that aligns with others, and it’s in consequence likeable.

I think you need to think of the phrase ‘sympathetic character’ as a literary term (which it is). A sympathetic character is one which the author has created to be likeable to the reader. If I wanted to express that a character showed sympathy to other characters, I would not use the form of words ‘a sympathetic character’ because that would reference the ‘literary term’ meaning explained above.

Yes, I see where you're coming from.

The uses of ‘sympathetic’ you started off with require both direct and indirect context to work. For example, to differentiate 'John is sympathetic’, you would need to be aware whether or not you were reading a piece of literary criticism, John is being placed in the context of the work or his actions are being described, or indeed whether the additional meaning that John’s character is sympathetic to some dimension of the story is intended (the architectural meaning).

Ad absurdum, a children’s anatomy book might name individual nerves and say ‘John is sympathetic' (while Brenda is parasympathetic, etc).

@NoCowardSoul, Please come back and tell us if the character has been described as being fair-haired and having grey eyes! I'm imagining so.

Edited to put an extra n into imagining and then take it out again. Mmm.