Crossword Genius

Pay them off in compassion (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

empathy

'compassion' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'pay them off' is the wordplay.
'off' indicates anagramming the letters.
'pay'+'them'='paythem'
'paythem' with letters rearranged gives 'EMPATHY'.

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for empathy that I've seen before include "Pay them (anag.)" , "Ability to identify with another's feelings" , "Psychological identification" , "Ability to share another's feelings" , "Intuitive fellow-feeling" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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