Phrase guide

vicarious embarrassment

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The uncomfortable sympathetic feeling experienced while watching someone else embarrass themselves.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: empathic embarrassment, secondhand embarrassment, Spanish shame

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: embarrassment

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: vergonya aliena — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Chinese Mandarin: 替代性尷尬 /替代性尴尬 (tìdàixìng gāngà) — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Chinese Mandarin: 替人尷尬 /替人尴尬 (tì rén gāngà) — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Czech: pocit trapnosti za druhého — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Czech: pocit trapnosti — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Dutch: plaatsvervangende schaamte — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Finnish: myötähäpeä — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • German: Fremdscham — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • German: Fremdschämen — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Greek: ετεροντροπή (eterontropí) — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Icelandic: kjánahrollur — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Japanese: 共感性羞恥 (kyōkansei shūchi) — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Polish: zażenowanie (czyimś zachowaniem) — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Portuguese: vergonha alheia — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Russian: испа́нский стыд (ispánskij styd) — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Spanish: vergüenza ajena — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Spanish: pena ajena — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Spanish: alipori — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Swedish: sekundärskam — embarrassment felt for someone else
  • Vietnamese: ngại giùm — embarrassment felt for someone else