(German noun)Vicarious embarrassment, feeling shame for others' actions.
"from Proto-Germanic *framaþiz (“foreign, not one's own”) and German scham, shame"
—wiktionary
A handy little German word for which there's not an English equivalent. I think of it as being opposed to schadenfreude, which is taking pleasure at someone else's misfortune.
It's come up today as part of a conversation I'd had about the reports of Donald Trump releasing stinky if ironic farts during his Manhattan trial. Whilst several people were laughing at his expense, I was embarrassed for him and uncomfortable with the way the conversation was heading.
All in all, I reflect on the usefulness of so many German expressions that cover circumstances we simply have no words for in English, es tut meir leid being another.
$ xclip -o | wc -w
126
This is also my 700th writeup ☺⍼