"Not much to lay your hopes on," she said in a sympathetic tone.

Flo put a hand on his arm and adopted a more sympathetic tone.

Mungo said, in what he hoped was a sympathetic tone.

Then, in a sympathetic tone, he said: "Here are the terms.

Max was saying to Ben, apparently struggling to keep a sympathetic tone to her voice.

The look in his eyes did not match the sympathetic tone of his voice.

That's what they say in quiet, sympathetic tones behind the parents' backs.

"But understandable," the older woman replied in a sympathetic tone.

"I suppose it's possible," she said in a sympathetic tone of voice.

Don't give me that sympathetic tone, as if my welfare were tops on your list of priorities.