1. Of, expressing, feeling, or resulting from sympathy: a sympathetic glance.
2. Favorably inclined: not at all sympathetic to her proposal.
3. Agreeably suited to one's disposition or mood; congenial: sympathetic surroundings.
4. Of, relating to, or acting on the sympathetic nervous system: a sympathetic neuron; sympathetic stimulation.
5. 1. Relating to or being vibrations, especially musical tones, produced in one body by energy from a nearby vibrating body and having the same frequency as the vibration of the nearby body.
   2. Emitting such vibrations: sympathetic strings.

[Greek sumpathētikos, from sumpatheia, sympathy. See sympathy.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.