What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Enthusiasm vs Empathy - What's the difference?

enthusiasm | empathy |

As nouns the difference between enthusiasm and empathy

is that enthusiasm is possession by a god; divine inspiration or frenzy while empathy is the intellectual identification of the thoughts, feelings, or state of another person.

enthusiasm

English

(wikipedia enthusiasm)

Noun

  • (obsolete, or, historical) Possession by a god; divine inspiration or frenzy.
  • * 1946 , Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy , ch. 1
    • The intoxication that they sought was that of ‘enthusiasm ’, of union with the god.
  • Intensity of feeling; excited interest or eagerness.
  • Something in which one is keenly interested.
  • * 1968 , Central States Archaeological Journal (volumes 15-16, page 154)
    • My main enthusiasm is attending and seeing the progress and interest of collectors, to meet old friends, and hopefully to make new friends.
  • * 2012 , Nicholas Joll, Philosophy and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (page 23)
    • Other Adamsian enthusiasms included: fast cars; restaurants; Bach, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Dire Straits;

    Related terms

    * enthuse * enthusiast * enthusiastic * enthusiastically

    empathy

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia empathy)
  • the intellectual identification of the thoughts, feelings, or state of another person
  • capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such understanding
    • She had a lot of empathy for her neighbor; she knew what it was like to lose a parent too.
  • (parapsychology, science fiction) a paranormal ability to psychically read another person's emotions

    • Usage notes

    Used similarly to sympathy, interchangeably in looser usage. In stricter usage, empathy is stronger and more intimate, meaning that the subject understands and shares an emotion with the object – as in “I feel your pain” – while (term) is weaker and more distant – concern, but not shared emotion: “I care for you”.