sympathizers

IPA/ˈsɪm.pə.θaɪ.zər/
KK[sˈɪmpəθˌaɪzɚz]IPA/ˈsɪm.pə.θaɪ.zɚ/

sympathizers — noun

  • sympathizerssingular
  • sympathizersesplural

1. a person who backs a political group, a cause, or a set of beliefs — often witho

1.nounB2
Definition

a person who backs a political group, a cause, or a set of beliefs — often without being an official member of the organization

Example

During the election campaign, Pedro became one of the party's most loyal sympathizers.

collocation: loyal sympathizers, party sympathizers

Rodrigo's neighbours were quiet sympathizers of the independence movement in the region.

preposition: sympathizer of [movement]

Common collocations
  • loyal sympathizers
  • active sympathizers
  • known sympathizers
  • rebel sympathizers
  • party sympathizers
  • left-wing sympathizers
  • quiet sympathizers
  • vocal sympathizers
Synonyms
  • supporter

    broader term that includes both members and non-members

  • ally

    implies active help or solidarity rather than quiet agreement

  • backer

    usually refers to someone who provides financial support

Antonyms
  • opponent

    someone actively against the group or cause

  • critic

    someone who expresses disapproval

Grammar Patterns

sympathizer + of [group/idea]

sympathizer + for [cause]

Usage Note

Often used in political or social contexts to describe people who share the aims of an organization without holding formal membership.

Common Mistakes

The party's supporters voted in the internal election.
The party's sympathizers were not allowed to vote because only members could.
'Supporters' can include members; 'sympathizers' specifically refers to non-members who back the group.

sympathizers — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Sympathize is the broadest of these four: it means feeling sadness for someone's misfortune. Empathize goes deeper — it involves understanding and sharing the actual feeling as if it were your own, not just feeling sorry from the outside. Commiserate is more active and social: it means expressing shared sorrow directly to the person, often through conversation or a shared experience, such as 'They called to commiserate with him about the cancelled project.' Condole is formal and much rarer, limited mainly to written condolences: 'The ambassador condoled with the family after the tragedy.' Feel for is an informal, everyday alternative that works in casual conversation: 'I really feel for those families.' In daily speech, 'sympathize' and 'feel for' are the most natural choices; 'condole' is best avoided unless the context is clearly ceremonial.

empathize ↗commiserate ↗condolefeel for ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • sympathize with someone on something
  • sympathize with someone over something
  • sympathize with the idea of

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

From Greek 'sympatheia' (συμπάθεια), made up of 'syn-' meaning 'together' and 'pathos' meaning 'feeling, emotion'. The word travelled into Latin as 'sympathia', then into French as 'sympathie', and entered English in the 16th century with the sense of 'a common feeling with someone'. The political meaning — someone who shares a set of ideas without being a member — developed in the 19th century.

First known use

1598

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 3