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I would like to know whether there is a name for the situation or feeling someone can experience whereby someone can feel coldness in the body by looking at someone who seems underclothed in the same place (even though this other person may not actually feel or be sensitive to such cold).

Thanks.

Note: I have had several answers, but sympathy and empathy do not seem like correct answers to me. The undressed person has a different physical resistance to cold and actually feels warm despite wearing little clothing. The person with more clothes simply cannot bear the sight of it and actually feels cold despite wearing more clothes.

Thanks.

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    If possible, tell us if there is a word for this in your native language, or any other language that you speak.
    – James K
    Nov 5, 2017 at 18:56
  • Not sure about this, but some language should sure have words for the chill experienced when watching someone else do a polar bear swim and similar stuff.
    – Jimmy Joslington
    Nov 7, 2017 at 14:55
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    Yes, I recognise the situation. However I do wonder if there is a word in your native language. If it exists it would help you get better answers. If no such word exists in your native language you could explain why you think it might exist in English.
    – James K
    Nov 7, 2017 at 21:20

2 Answers 2

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A layman could refer to that as a kind of sympathetic response, similar to the cringing one may feel when seeing a person get injured.

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One possibility is empathy, which means "understanding or feeling someone else's thoughts or feelings".

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