Sympathetic

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sympathetic \Sym`pa*thet"ic\, a. [See {Sympathy}, and cf.
     {Pathetic}.]
     1. Inclined to sympathy; sympathizing.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Far wiser he, whose sympathetic mind


              Exults in all the good of all mankind. --Goldsmith.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Produced by, or expressive of, sympathy.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears. --Gray.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Physiol.)
        (a) Produced by sympathy; -- applied particularly to
            symptoms or affections. See {Sympathy}.
        (b) Of or relating to the sympathetic nervous system or
            some of its branches; produced by stimulation on the
            sympathetic nervious system or some part of it; as,
            the sympathetic saliva, a modified form of saliva,
            produced from some of the salivary glands by
            stimulation of a sympathetic nerve fiber.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     {Sympathetic ink}. (Chem.) See under {Ink}.
  
     {Sympathetic nerve} (Anat.), any nerve of the sympathetic
        system; especially, the axial chain of ganglions and
        nerves belonging to the sympathetic system.
  
     {Sympathetic powder} (Alchemy), a kind of powder long
        supposed to be able to cure a wound if applied to the
        weapon that inflicted it, or even to a portion of the
        bloody clothes. --Dunglison.
  
     {Sympathetic sounds} (Physics), sounds produced from solid
        bodies by means of vibrations which have been communicated
        to them from some other sounding body, by means of the air
        or an intervening solid.
  
     {Sympathetic system} (Anat.), a system of nerves and nerve
        ganglions connected with the alimentary canal, the
        vascular system, and the glandular organs of most
        vertebrates, and controlling more or less their actions.
        The axial part of the system and its principal ganglions
        and nerves are situated in the body cavity and form a
        chain of ganglions on each side of the vertebral column
        connected with numerous other ganglions and nerve
        plexuses.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sympathetic
       adj 1: of or relating to the sympathetic nervous system;
              "sympathetic neurons"; "sympathetic stimulation"
       2: expressing or feeling or resulting from sympathy or
          compassion or friendly fellow feelings; disposed toward;
          "sympathetic to the students' cause"; "a sympathetic
          observer"; "a sympathetic gesture" [ant: {unsympathetic}]
       3: having similar disposition and tastes; "a compatible married
          couple"; "with their many similar tastes, he found her a
          most sympathetic companion" [syn: {compatible}]
       4: showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding and
          generosity; "was charitable in his opinions of others";
          "kindly criticism"; "a kindly act"; "sympathetic words";
          "a large-hearted mentor" [syn: {charitable}, {kindly}, {large-hearted}]
       5: (of characters in literature or drama) evoking empathic or
          sympathetic feelings; "the sympathetic characters in the
          play" [syn: {appealing}, {likeable}, {likable}] [ant: {unsympathetic}]
       6: relating to vibrations that occur as a result of vibrations
          in a nearby body; "sympathetic vibration" [syn: {harmonic}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  155 Moby Thesaurus words for "sympathetic":
     Christian, Christlike, Christly, accordant, adductive,
     affectionate, affinitive, agreeable, agreeing, akin, allergic,
     alluring, amenable, amicable, anaphylactic, appertaining,
     associative, assuring, at one, attracting, attractive, attrahent,
     attuned, benign, benignant, bleeding, brotherly, charitable,
     cheering, clement, comforting, commiserative, comparable,
     comparative, compassionate, compatible, comprehending, concordant,
     condolatory, condolent, condoling, congenial, congruous,
     connective, consistent, consolatory, consoling, correlative,
     corresponding, decent, delicate, dragging, drawing, emotionable,
     empathetic, empathic, en rapport, encouraging, favorable,
     favorably disposed, forbearant, fraternal, frictionless, friendly,
     gentle, good, goosy, gracious, harmonious, heartening, hospitable,
     human, humane, hyperesthetic, hyperpathic, hypersensitive,
     impressionable, in accord, in concert, in rapport, in tune,
     inharmony, irritable, itchy, kind, kindhearted, kindly,
     kindly-disposed, lenient, like-minded, linking, loving, magnetic,
     magnetized, melting, merciful, nervous, nice, of good comfort,
     of one mind, open, open-minded, overrefined, oversensible,
     oversensitive, overtender, passible, peaceful, pertaining,
     pertinent, pitying, pleasant, prickly, proportionable,
     proportional, proportionate, pulling, reassuring, receptive,
     referable, referring, refined, relating, relational, relative,
     relieving, responsive, ruthful, sensible, sensitive, sib,
     simpatico, skittish, soft, softhearted, supersensitive, supportive,
     susceptible, sympathizing, tactful, tender, tenderhearted, tetchy,
     thin-skinned, ticklish, together, touchy, tugging, understanding,
     united, warm, warmhearted, well-disposed, well-intentioned,
     well-meaning