secondhand embarrassment
Borrowed social discomfort
Secondhand embarrassment is the cringe you feel when witnessing someone else's humiliating moment—even if they don't realize they're embarrassing themselves.
The discomfort is vicarious but visceral: I couldn't watch him bomb that speech; the secondhand embarrassment was too much.
Also called vicarious embarrassment or, in German loanword form, fremdschämen.
- cringeShrink from discomfort
- cringe comedyComedy exploiting secondhand embarrassment
- foot-in-mouth diseaseChronic awkward remarks
- self-ownUnintentional self-inflicted embarrassment
- gaffeClumsy social error
cover your eyes · self-mockery · blooper reels · emotional contagion · shame · awkwardness · mirroring · died inside · public decorum · social anxiety · discomfort · faux pas · pratfall · making it worse · schadenfreude · self-deprecation · self-consciousness · awkward silence
- vicarious emotions
- cringecringe, cringeworthy, cringy, facepalm, wince
secondhand embarrassmentemotional detachment
Withdrawal from feelings
indifference · obliviousness · unbothered · thick skin · shamelessness
second, secondhand, seconds, secondary, handed, handing, handbook, handmade, embarrass