Litost
Czech: the torment of seeing your own misery clearly.
Czech: the torment of seeing your own misery clearly. The body holds this signal first, often before the mind has named what is happening. Litost is a Czech term that captures something many languages do not have a single word for.
Where litost lives in the body
Chest
Tightness or warmth
Stomach
A sinking pull or knot
Head
Pressure, fullness, mental load
Related emotions
A note on this entry: The data on this page (definition, body sensations, valence, arousal, related emotions) reflects a structured reference for litost. A full long-form entry is being added gradually. If you have research, a translation, or a body-mapping correction to suggest, please get in touch.