2127: Empathetic vs. Empathic Oct 11, 2020

There are two variants, 'empathetic' and 'empathic' which people use for more or less the same purpose. There are some regional differences certainly, but the more commonly used and the more generally accepted is 'empathic'. Due to the relation with 'sympathetic' however, there has been a gradual rise also of the word 'empathetic', especially in less formal contexts, which would follow a similar pattern ostensibly.