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• schadenfreude
  schadenfreude

  noun

  satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.
• Schadenfreude
  Schadenfreude

  noun

  delight in another's misfortune

schadenfreude

American  

[shahd-n-froi-duh] / ˈʃɑd nˌfrɔɪ də /

noun

1. satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.

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Schadenfreude British  

/ ˈʃaːdənfrɔydə /

noun

1. delight in another's misfortune

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Etymology

Origin of schadenfreude

1890–95; < German, equivalent to Schaden harm + Freude joy

Explanation

When another person's bad luck secretly makes you feel good, that's schadenfreude. Your brother's rejection from a college that also rejected you might give you a twinge of schadenfreude. If you're fired from your difficult job, no one can blame you for a bit of schadenfreude as you watch your replacement struggle with your old tasks. This German word perfectly captures that satisfied feeling everyone gets at times when someone else runs into misfortune. In German, Schadenfreude literally means "damage-joy," and it's always spelled with a capital S. The word came into English use in the 1920s, and you can spell it with a small s if you prefer.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

schadenfreude Schadenfreude

As soon as enough votes were counted to officially knock Tom Steyer out of the California governor’s race, the anti-billionaire schadenfreude kicked in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026

But there’s no schadenfreude watching her squeeze into a middle seat, no glee in her comeuppance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026

Now, the foundations of their empire are cracking—raising questions about the once-sizzling industry’s future and transfixing Wall Street in a mix of schadenfreude and anxiety.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026

But much of the film’s popularity probably stemmed from that reliable magnet of interest, schadenfreude, as the Siegels’ dream of living like American royalty ran aground when the Great Recession hit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025

Let us go, you & I, to re-invent the damage and call it discovery, to uniformly lift up our cry in schadenfreude, meek before Great Cities that bend as fenders to the glare.

From Unmanned by Stephen Oliver

Schadenfreude was the community’s way to vent tension.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

The allies may come to regret their short-term Schadenfreude about Mr. Trump’s Hormuz predicament.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

The other anagram of “Tár” is, of course, “ART,” and as real-life art monsters disappear from view, “Tár” offers up a work into which we can sublimate our own Schadenfreude and sympathy for abusers.

From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2022

Call today’s diagram a little bit of grandmasterly Schadenfreude.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 14, 2022

There is only one language in the world which has a word to express that type of mirth; the word is Schadenfreude.

From Lord Tony's Wife An Adventure of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy