being overcome by sympathy; being swayed by compassion
Describes a situation where one's judgment or resolve is weakened by feelings of sympathy or human kindness, often leading to a disadvantageous outcome.
Overcome by sympathy, I ended up agreeing to the loan request.
In business, you must not let sympathy get the better of you.
Often used to describe a person who is too soft or lenient; 人情負け is the state of being overcome by that softness in a specific situation.
Compound of 人情 (ninjō, 'human kindness, sympathy') and 負け (make, 'defeat, losing'), literally 'losing to sympathy'.