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schadenfreude

[shahd-n-froi-duh]

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noun

satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.

Origin of schadenfreude

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for schadenfreude

Contemporary Examples of schadenfreude

After having the issue taken away from them in 2012, their schadenfreude has been epic.
The Rhinohawks Come Roaring Back
James Poulos
September 7, 2014
There was no shortage of schadenfreude, with Democrats joyfully noting just how dumb those silly, delusional Republicans were.
FiveThirtyHate: Dems Attack Nate Silver
Kristen Soltis Anderson
March 25, 2014
Still, Clinton aides exulted in schadenfreude when their enemies faltered.
The Hillary-Haters’ Book Club Will Never Run Out of Things to Read
Michelle Cottle
January 15, 2014
Across the aisle, France's majority Socialist Party has restrained its schadenfreude.
France’s Petty Politics Brings Christmas Early to Scandal Lovers
Tracy McNicoll
December 15, 2012
Maybe if you stare long enough at the catastrophe, you might work through your schadenfreude to its opposite: empathy.
GOP Primaries Provide a Feast for Our Schadenfreude Appetite
Eric G. Wilson
January 19, 2012

Historical Examples of schadenfreude

"I can easily believe you don't approve it," she said with a gleam of Schadenfreude.
The Messenger
Elizabeth Robins
The curious and expressive German word Schadenfreude cannot be translated into any other language.
German Problems and Personalities
Charles Sarolea
Bertha guesses its contents and revels in the luxury of pity and schadenfreude.
August Strindberg, the Spirit of Revolt
L. (Lizzy) Lind-af-Hageby
Neid zu fhlen, ist menschlich; Schadenfreude 35 zu geniessen, teuflisch—To feel envy is human; to joy in mischief is devilish.
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources
James Wood
The word used means, like the German "Schadenfreude," rejoicing at another's injury.
Euripedes and His Age
Gilbert Murray

British Dictionary definitions for schadenfreude

Schadenfreude

noun

delight in another's misfortune

Word Origin for Schadenfreude

German: from Schaden harm + Freude joy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for schadenfreude

n.

"malicious joy in the misfortunes of others," 1922, German Schadenfreude, literally "damage-joy," from schaden "damage, harm, injury" (see scathe) + freude, from Old High German frewida "joy," from fro "happy," literally "hopping for joy," from Proto-Germanic *frawa- (see frolic).

What a fearful thing is it that any language should have a word expressive of the pleasure which men feel at the calamities of others; for the existence of the word bears testimony to the existence of the thing. And yet in more than one such a word is found. ... In the Greek epikhairekakia, in the German, 'Schadenfreude.' [Richard C. Trench, "On the Study of Words," 1852]

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper