Sympathetic
Sympathetic adjective - (of characters in literature or drama) evoking empathic or sympathetic feelings.
Usage example: the sympathetic characters in the play
Unlikable is an antonym for sympathetic.
Unlikable
Unlikable adjective - (of characters in literature or drama) tending to evoke antipathetic feelings.
Sympathetic is an antonym for unlikable.
Both words in one sentence
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A lot of adaptations file off the unlikable parts of Mary, making her more sympathetic.
Source: Literature / Pride and Prejudice -
Hitchcock and screenwriter Joseph Stefano felt the book's Norman Bates was too unlikable; making him better-looking made him slightly more sympathetic to the audience.
Source: Film / Psycho - As all of the characters in the actual case are at least somewhat sympathetic, he seems to have been made to be as unlikable as possible just so the audience can have someone to hate.
Source: Hate Sink
Cite this Source
Unlikable and Sympathetic. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 28, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/sympathetic/unlikable
Sympathetic & Unlikable. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/sympathetic/unlikable>.
Unlikable or Sympathetic. 2016. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/sympathetic/unlikable.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "sympathetic" and "unlikable" have occurred on timeline