schadenfreude
[shahd-n-froi-duh]
- satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.
Show More
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. 2018
Examples from the Web for schadenfreude
Contemporary Examples
After having the issue taken away from them in 2012, their schadenfreude has been epic.
There was no shortage of schadenfreude, with Democrats joyfully noting just how dumb those silly, delusional Republicans were.
Still, Clinton aides exulted in schadenfreude when their enemies faltered.
Across the aisle, France's majority Socialist Party has restrained its schadenfreude.
Maybe if you stare long enough at the catastrophe, you might work through your schadenfreude to its opposite: empathy.
Historical Examples
"I can easily believe you don't approve it," she said with a gleam of Schadenfreude.
The MessengerElizabeth Robins
The curious and expressive German word Schadenfreude cannot be translated into any other language.
German Problems and PersonalitiesCharles Sarolea
Bertha guesses its contents and revels in the luxury of pity and schadenfreude.
August Strindberg, the Spirit of RevoltL. (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.
The word used means, like the German "Schadenfreude," rejoicing at another's injury.
Euripedes and His AgeGilbert Murray
Schadenfreude
- delight in another's misfortune
Show More
Word Origin
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]
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper