schadenfreude

See also: Schadenfreude

English

WOTD – 11 August 2008

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Schadenfreude (“joy in the misfortune of others”), from Schaden (“damage, misfortune”) + Freude (“joy”). The word gained popularity in English in the late 20th c. and likely entered mainstream usage through an episode of The Simpsons (more in citations).

Pronunciation

• (standard) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɑː.dən.fɹɔɪ.də/, /ˈʃɑː.dən.fɹɔɪd/ enPR: shäʹdənfroidə, shäʹdənfroid

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɪdə

Noun

schadenfreude (usually uncountable, plural schadenfreudes)

1. Malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune.

   Synonyms: (rare) epicaricacy, (internet slang) lulz

   Antonyms: (rare) confelicity; (uncommon) freudenfreude; (Jewish) naches, firgun

   • 1897, “Human Nature”, in Thomas Bailey Saunders, transl., The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer, translation of original by Arthur Schopenhauer:

     But it is Schadenfreude, a mischievous delight in the misfortunes of others, which remains the worst trait in human nature.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:schadenfreude.

Derived terms

• schadenfreuder
• schadenfreudian

Translations

malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune

• Afrikaans: leedvermaak
• Albanian: keqdashje (sq) f, dashakeqësi f, smirë (sq) f
• Arabic: شَمَاتَة f (šamāta)
• Belarusian: злара́днасць f (zlarádnascʹ)
• Bulgarian: злора́дство (bg) n (zlorádstvo)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 幸災樂禍／幸灾乐祸 (hang⁶ zoi¹ lok⁶ wo⁶)

  Mandarin: 幸災樂禍／幸灾乐祸 (zh) (xìngzāilèhuò)

• Czech: škodolibost (cs) f
• Danish: skadefryd c
• Dutch: leedvermaak (nl) n, schadevreugde f
• Esperanto: difektoĝojo
• Estonian: kahjurõõm (et)
• Finnish: vahingonilo (fi)
• French: joie maligne (fr) f, schadenfreude (fr) f
• Galician: ledicia do mal alleo
• German: Schadenfreude (de) f
• Greek: χαιρεκακία (el) f (chairekakía)

  Ancient: ἐπιχαιρεκακία f (epikhairekakía)

• Hebrew: שִׂמְחָה לְאֵיד (he) f
• Hindi: शाडन्फ़्रॉएड (śāḍanfrŏeḍ)
• Hungarian: káröröm (hu)
• Icelandic: þórðargleði f, meinfýsni f
• Indonesian: schadenfreude
• Italian: gioia maligna f, aticofilia f
• Japanese: シャーデンフロイデ (ja) (shādenfuroide), 幸災楽禍 (こうさいらくか, kōsairakuka), (internet slang) メシウマ (meshiuma), 他人の不幸は蜜の味 (tanin no fukō wa mitsu no aji) (proverb)
• Korean: 쌤통 (ko) (ssaemtong), 샤덴프로이데 (syadenpeuroide), 고소하다 (ko) (gosohada)
• Macedonian: злорадост f (zloradost), сеир m (seir)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skadefryd (no) m

  Nynorsk: skadefryd m

• Polish: Schadenfreude (pl) n
• Portuguese: Schadenfreude (pt) f, bem feito(idiom)
• Russian: злора́дство (ru) n (zlorádstvo)
• Scottish Gaelic: àgh-truaighe m, àgh millteach m, aighear-truaighe m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: злурадост f, злорадoст f, злyрад f

  Roman: zluradost (sh) f, zloradost f, zlurad (sh) f

• Slovak: škodoradosť f
• Slovene: škodoželje n
• Spanish: alegría maligna f, satisfacción malévola f, regodeo morboso m, alegría de mal ajeno f, epicaricacía f, regodeo (es) m, schadenfreude
• Swedish: skadeglädje (sv)
• Turkish: şematet (tr)
• Ukrainian: зловті́ха f (zlovtíxa)
• Volapük: badöfafred (vo)
• Yiddish: שאָדנפֿרייד f (shodnfreyd)

See also

• burn, baby, burn
• dance on someone's grave
• gloating
• glee

Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Schadenfreude (“joy in the misfortune of others”), from Schaden (“damage, misfortune”) + Freude (“joy”).

Noun

schadenfreude (first-person possessive schadenfreudeku, second-person possessive schadenfreudemu, third-person possessive schadenfreudenya)

1. schadenfreude: malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune.

Further reading

• “schadenfreude” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.