simpatico

simpatico
 
adjective|sim-PAH-tih-koh
 
What It Means
 
Simpatico typically describes two or more people or things with shared qualities, interests, etc. It can also describe someone who is agreeable or likeable.
 
// Even though they weren’t always simpatico with regard to the direction of their company, the pair managed to be successful partners for more than 35 years.

simpatico
adjective
sim·;pa·;ti·;co sim-;p;-ti-;k;  -;pa-
1
: agreeable, likable
The Bachelor Duke was a highly simpatico figure, kind, humane, civilized—qualities that it is often difficult to recapture in a historical biography.
—John Martin Robinson
2
: having shared qualities, interests, etc. : like-minded, sympathetic
These two artists are simpatico. Carlson, like Sorolla, works out-of-doors, directly from his subject …
—Kay Mayer
Andrea Sand's group of older mothers are simpatico because of their common age and experience.
—Barbara Hey
With the patronage of a simpatico Reagan, Casey took in hand a diminished CIA and molded it into a high-tech agency …
—William L. Chaze et al.


Did you know?
Simpatico, which comes ultimately from the Latin noun sympathia, meaning “sympathy,” was borrowed into English from both the Italian simpatico and Spanish simpatico. In those languages, the word has been chiefly used to describe people who are well-liked or easy to get along with. Early uses of the word in English reflected those of their forebears, as in Henry James’s 1881 novel The Portrait of a Lady, in which one character says of another’s dying cousin, “Ah, he was so simpatico. I’m awfully sorry for you.” In recent years, however, the word has gained an additional sense describing things or people who get along well or work well together.

Examples of simpatico in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But in their performance Scott and Seth Avett find the humor and simpatico interest in the song.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 15 Jan. 2025
Spector, his simpatico director Anna D. Shapiro and a flawless cast of five (well, six, but be surprised by the last) are too smart to promise real peace of mind from any of these divisive, squabbling, confused-by-information yet staunch in their opinions Americans.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 16 Dec. 2024

Word History
Etymology
Italian simpatico & Spanish simp;tico, ultimately from Latin sympathia sympathy

First Known Use
1849, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of simpatico was in 1849
See more words from the same year