simpatía

friendliness

noun seem-pah-TEE-ah Rare

Origin: From Greek sympatheia ('fellow feeling'), via Latin.

Also means

sympathy

Usage Note

Simpatía is a false friend: it does NOT usually mean 'sympathy' (= compasión or pésame) but rather warmth, likableness, or friendly charm. Saying me cae bien ('I like him/her') expresses the same feeling colloquially. The adjective simpático/a means 'nice, likeable' — again, NOT 'sympathetic'. Sentir simpatía por alguien can edge toward 'sympathy/affinity' in formal writing, but the default sense is friendliness.

Examples

"La profesora ganó la simpatía de todos sus alumnos."

Natural Translation

The teacher won the affection of all her students.

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