Stuck Finding an Adjective for "Worthy of Sympathy"

[MrPixel]

This is about a central character in a project I'm working on. She is an adorable, diminutive and almost child-like woman in her late 20's where her impulsive displays of heartfelt affection draw reflexive "Awwwww..." responses. Impossibly cute.

There's an adjective for this related to "sympathy" or "sympathetic", but I can't get past the feeling that neither are right, denoting the giving of the emotion, not the condition of engendering the receiving of it.

Thesaurus isn't helping.

Anybody?

 

[windar]

This is about a central character in a project I'm working on. She is an adorable, diminutive and almost child-like woman in her late 20's where her impulsive displays of heartfelt affection draw reflexive "Awwwww..." responses. Impossibly cute.

There's an adjective for this related to "sympathy" or "sympathetic", but I can't get past the feeling that neither are right, denoting the giving of the emotion, not the condition of engendering the receiving of it.

Thesaurus isn't helping.

Anybody?

Sympathetic would have the connotation of eliciting sympathy. "It was a sympathetic story", one that caused the listener to feel sympathy...

 

[NotWise]

This is about a central character in a project I'm working on. She is an adorable, diminutive and almost child-like woman in her late 20's where her impulsive displays of heartfelt affection draw reflexive "Awwwww..." responses. Impossibly cute.

There's an adjective for this related to "sympathy" or "sympathetic", but I can't get past the feeling that neither are right, denoting the giving of the emotion, not the condition of engendering the receiving of it.

Thesaurus isn't helping.

Anybody?

Supportive? Caring?

 

[dmallord]

empathy vs sympathy girl word choice

Sympathetic would have the connotation of eliciting sympathy. "It was a sympathetic story", one that caused the listener to feel sympathy...

Grammarly gives this example:

Empathetic vs. Sympathetic

"Empathetic and sympathetic are similar words, but they’re not the same. While being empathetic means putting yourself easily and completely in another person’s shoes, being sympathetic means showing concern for someone when something bad happens to them. It really boils down to the difference between empathy and sympathy."

An empathetically inclined girl would be portrayed as one who expresses her concern to another over how that person feels in a given situation, say sadness. While a sympathetically inclined girl would be moved to help assuage that second person's sorrow by actively looking for a means to make her feel better.

Your girl seems to be the sympathetic sort of lady that would get more 'awww' that the First Lady would receive from a reader.

"Look, honey, I feel for you over seeing your dog getting run over." verses "Look, honey, I know how much it hurts you to lose your lovely poodle. How about we gather her up and I help you to see her on her way to doggie heaven, together?"

dmallord

 

[SimonDoom]

Endearing.

 

[MrPixel]

Endearing.

Give the man a cigar!

Thanks, Simon. That captures the sentiment. Don't understand why I was stuck on it, but I was.

 

[LexxRuthless]

I had a similar character in one of my stories, and went back to see how I'd worded it:

There was just too much 'damsel in distress' emanating from her. I wanted desperately to help her. Blame it on my geeky sense of honor, or too many role-playing games.

 

[SimonDoom]

Give the man a cigar!

Thanks, Simon. That captures the sentiment. Don't understand why I was stuck on it, but I was.

On a daily basis, I lurch from one stuck point to another. I'm glad if I can help somebody get un-stuck every once in a while.

 

[TadOverdon]

On a daily basis, I lurch from one stuck point to another.

This is a spot-on description of my process. LOL