different between sympathetic vs agreeable

English

Alternative forms

• sympathetick (obsolete)
• sympathetical

Etymology

Mid 17th century in the sense “relating to an affinity or paranormal influence”, from sympathy +? -etic (“pertaining to”), on the pattern of pathetic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?m.p????t.?k/
• Rhymes: -?t?k

Adjective

sympathetic (comparative more sympathetic, superlative most sympathetic)

1. Of, related to, feeling, showing, or characterized by sympathy.

   Antonym: unsympathetic

   1. Showing approval of or favor towards an idea or action.

      Synonym: approving

2. (of a person) Attracting the liking of others.
   1. (construction) Designed in a sensitive or appropriate way.
3. (relational) Relating to, producing, or denoting an effect which arises through an affinity, interdependence, or mutual association.
   1. (of magic) A supernatural connection or power resulting from two items having the same form or some other correspondence.
   2. (sound) Relating to musical tones produced by sympathetic vibration or to strings so tuned as to sound by sympathetic vibration.
4. (neuroanatomy, neurology, relational) Relating to or denoting the part of the autonomic nervous system consisting of nerves arising from ganglia near the middle part of the spinal cord, supplying the internal organs, blood vessels, and glands, and balancing the action of the parasympathetic nerves.

   Antonym: parasympathetic

Derived terms

Related terms

• sympathico-

Translations

References

• “sympathetic”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• “sympathetic”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).

English

Etymology

From Middle English agreable, from Old French agreable; displaced native Old English cweme (“pleasing, agreeable”). Equivalent to agree +? -able.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /????i??bl/

Adjective

agreeable (comparative more agreeable, superlative most agreeable)

1. pleasant to the senses or the mind

   • the train of agreeable reveries.

2. (dated) Willing; ready to agree or consent.
   • 1529, Hugh Latimer, sermon in Cambridge

     These Frenchmen give unto the said captain of Calais a great sum of money, so that he will be but content and agreeable that they may enter into the said town.

3. Agreeing or suitable; followed by to, or rarely by with.

   Synonyms: conformable, correspondent, concordant
4. In pursuance, conformity, or accordance; used adverbially

Synonyms

• (pleasing, pleasant): See Thesaurus:pleasant
• (willing): See Thesaurus:acquiescent
• (conforming): See Thesaurus:agreeable

Translations

Noun

agreeable (plural agreeables)

1. Something pleasing; anything that is agreeable.
   • 1855, Blackwood's magazine (volume 77, page 331)

     The disagreeables of travelling are necessary evils, to be encountered for the sake of the agreeables of resting and looking round you.

Further reading

• agreeable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• agreeable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.