empathy

/ˈɛmpəθi/

//ˈɛmpəθi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"empathy" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“empathy” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,844. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,844
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.

Corpus desk

Index EN-empathy · empathy · English

empathy · rank #10,844 · 11 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,844
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH downstairs

Nearest frequency peer: downstairs (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “empathy”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “empathy” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

empathy vs empty
71% similar
empathy vs empathic
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for empathy
PropertyValue
Headwordempathy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɛmpəθi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#10,844
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “empathy”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).empathylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “downstairs” (#10,843), “ensemble” (#10,845), “Ernest” (#10,846). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “empathy” is #10,844. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around empathy (IPA /ˈɛmpəθi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,844 among 2,246 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for empathy, with forms such as "emapthy", "emmpathy", and "empahty". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "empty", "empathic", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: A twentieth-century borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια (empátheia, literally “passion”) (formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) + πάθος (páthos, “feeling”)), equivalent to em- + -pathy, coined by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate German Einfühlung. T… The correct English form is empathy, spelled E-M-P-A-T-H-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.
  2. 2
    The capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such understanding.
  3. 3
    A paranormal ability to psychically read another person's emotions.
  4. 4
    MDMA.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how empathy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. She had a lot of empathy for her neighbor; she knew what it was like to lose a parent too.
  2. Like your body's in the room but you're not really there / Like you have empathy inside but you don't really care / Like you're fresh outta love but it's been in the air / Am I past repair?

Etymology

A twentieth-century borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια (empátheia, literally “passion”) (formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) + πάθος (páthos, “feeling”)), equivalent to em- + -pathy, coined by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate German Einfühlung. The modern word in Greek εμπάθεια (empátheia) has an opposite meaning denoting strong negative feelings and prejudice against someone.

This word in other languages

empatía(Español)empathie(Français)Empathie(Deutsch)empatia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emapthy
  • emmpathy
  • empahty
  • empathhy
  • empathyy
  • empatthy
  • empatyh
  • emppathy
  • emptahy
  • epmathy
  • mepathy

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of empathy - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

emapthy2emmpathy1empahty2empathhy1empathyy1empatthy1empatyh2emppathy1
Edit distance from "empathy"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "empathy"?
"empathy" is spelled E-M-P-A-T-H-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɛmpəθi/.
What does "empathy" mean?
As a noun, "empathy" means: Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.
What words are commonly confused with "empathy"?
"empathy" is commonly confused with "empty", "empathic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "empathy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "empathy" is /ˈɛmpəθi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "empathy"?
A twentieth-century borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐμπάθεια (empátheia, literally “passion”) (formed from ἐν (en, “in, at”) + πάθος (páthos, “feeling”)), equivalent to em- + -pathy, coined by Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate German Ein... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "empathy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

condemn#10,831guessed#10,857hallway#10,859heavens#10,861

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

disguise11 variantscaption11 variantsinsecure11 variantsLebanese11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list