schadenfreude
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
standard/ˈʃɑː.dənˌfɹɔɪ.də/
schadenfreude noun: malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune; counterempathy.
Noun
schadenfreude (usually uncountable, plural schadenfreudes)
- Malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune; counterempathy.
- But it is Schadenfreude, a mischievous delight in the misfortunes of others, which remains the worst trait in human nature.1897, “Human Nature”, in Thomas Bailey Saunders, transl., The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer, translation of original by Arthur Schopenhauer
- In a 2012 study, Dr. Chambliss and her colleagues examined freudenfreude and schadenfreude scores among college students, some of whom were experiencing mild depression and some who weren’t. Freudenfreude scores were higher, and schadenfreude scores were lower, among those who were not depressed.2022 November 25, Juli Fraga, “The Opposite of Schadenfreude Is Freudenfreude. Here’s How to Cultivate It.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 24 Mar 2023
- Synonyms:
- epicaricacy, lulz
- Antonyms:
- confelicity, freudenfreude, naches, firgun
schadenfreude meaning in Hindi, Bengali, Arabic and Indonesian
schadenfreude in Hindi
- malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune
- शाडन्फ़्रॉएड śāḍanfrŏeḍ
schadenfreude in Bengali
- অপরের দুঃখে আনন্দ
schadenfreude in Arabic
- malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune
- شَمَاتَة šamāta
schadenfreude in Indonesian
- malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune
- schadenfreude, senang melihat orang susah, susah melihat orang senang
Synonyms of schadenfreude
Antonyms
Forms of schadenfreude
| plural | schadenfreudes |
|---|
Origin of schadenfreude
An 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).
Words formed from schadenfreude
Questions about schadenfreude
- What does schadenfreude mean?
- Schadenfreude means malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune; counterempathy.
- What is schadenfreude in Hindi?
- Schadenfreude in Hindi is शाडन्फ़्रॉएड (śāḍanfrŏeḍ). See Schadenfreude meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is schadenfreude?
- Schadenfreude is a noun.
- How do you pronounce schadenfreude?
- Schadenfreude is pronounced /ˈʃɑː.dənˌfɹɔɪ.də/ (standard).
- What is the plural of schadenfreude?
- The plural of schadenfreude is schadenfreudes.
Words near schadenfreude in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: schadenfreude (page history and authors); schadenfreude (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-schadenfreude.ogg.
Cite this entry: “schadenfreude.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/schadenfreude. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.