Meaning of vicarious embarrassment | Babel Free

Definitions

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

countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“It is noted that vicarious embarrassment does not necessarily indicate the presence of an embarrassed other.”

“The same brain regions, the study found, are implicated in vicarious embarrassment – watching President Obama give an awkward hug of his own to departing press secretary Jay Carney, say – as they are when empathizing with the physical pain of others.”

CEFR level