Schadenfreude

is a German term meaning "pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune". It is sometimes used as a loanword in English and other languages. The German pronunciation of the word is (IPA).

It comes from Schaden (damage, harm) and Freude (joy). Schaden comes from the Middle High German schade, from the Old High German scado, and freude comes from the Middle High German vreude, from the Old High German frewida, from frō, happy). In German, the word always carries a negative connotation. A distinction exists between "secret schadenfreude" (a private feeling) and "open schadenfreude" (Hohn).

Schadenfreude is usually believed not to have a direct English equivalent. For example, Harper Collins German-English Dictionary translates schadenfreude as "malicious glee or gloating." An apparent English equivalent is epicaricacy, derived from the Greek word επιχαιρεκακία, epichaerecacia. This word does not appear in most modern dictionaries but does appear in Nathaniel Bailey's Universal Etymological English Dictionary (1727) under a slightly different spelling (epicharikaky), which gives its etymology as a compounding of epi (upon), chara (joy), and kakon (evil).

In Buddhism, the concept of mudita, "sympathetic joy" or "happiness in another's good fortune", is often explained as "the opposite of schadenfreude".

In English, the word schadenfreude is sometimes capitalized because of the German grammatical convention of capitalizing all common nouns in addition to proper nouns. However, as a loanword in English it usually follows English grammar and is not capitalized.

Expressions and the term in other languages

Schadenfreude ist die schönste Freude (denn sie kommt von Herzen): "Schadenfreude is the most superb kind of joy (since it comes directly from the heart)." (proverb)
Neid zu fühlen ist menschlich, Schadenfreude zu genießen teuflisch: "To feel envy is human, to enjoy schadenfreude is devilish." (Arthur Schopenhauer)
Das Wort Schadenfreude kennt man nur im Deutschen: "The word schadenfreude is known only in German." (unknown author)

Similar terms in other languages:

Arabic: shamat (shamtan, taking pleasure in the misfortune of others)
Czech: škodolibost (škoda, damage, harm, or loss, libost, pleasure)
Danish and Norwegian: skadefryd (skade, pain or suffering, fryd, glee).
Dutch: leedvermaak (leed, suffering or sorrow, and vermaak, entertainment)
Estonian: kahjurõõm (kahju, damage or harm and rõõm, joy)
Finnish: vahingonilo (vahinko, damage, ilo, joy or happiness)
Hebrew: שמחה) : שמחה לאיד, joy, איד, misfortune)
Hungarian: káröröm (kár, loss or damage, öröm, joy)
Norwegian: skadefryd (ska- dê-fryhd)
Russian and Serbo-Croatian: злорадство (зло, evil or harm, радость, joy)
Scots Gaelic: aighear-truaighe (aighear, delight or joy, truaighe, misery or wretchedness)
Slovak: škodoradosť (škoda, damage, harm, or loss, radosť, joy)
Swedish: skadeglädje (skada, damage, glädje, joy or happiness)

In Swedish and Norwegian, there is also a saying that skadeglädjen/fryd är den enda sanna glädjen/fryd ("schadenfreude is the only true joy"). A variant in Finnish is vahingonilo on aidointa iloa ("schadenfreude is the purest joy"). Another variant in Slovak is škodoradosť je najväčšia radosť ("schadenfreude is the greatest joy"), similar in meaning to the Hungarian variant legszebb öröm a káröröm. In Danish, the saying Egen lykke er at foretrække men andres ulykke er dog ikke at foragte translates to "(One's) own happiness should be preferred, but the misfortune of others should not be scorned." In Dutch there is a saying that goes: Er is geen beter vermaak dan leedvermaak ("There's no greater joy than schadenfreude")

In Thai, the phrase สมน้ำหน้า, som nam na, can be interpreted as "you got what you deserved," "serves you right" or "I'm laughing at your bad luck."

In Korean, the phrase 고소하다, go so ha da, literally translated means "to smell sesame oil". Because the smell of sesame oil is regarded as very pleasant in Korea, this phrase is also used when one is pleased about a particular event. It is especially used when one is pleased about an event involving the misfortune of another.

In Chinese, the phrase 幸灾乐祸 () is an old idiom that directly translates to "enjoying (other's) calamity (and) laughing at (other's) misfortune".

In Japanese, the phrase 他人の不幸は蜜の味, tanin no fukou wa mitsu no aji, translates literally as "others' misfortunes taste of honey".

In popular culture

In his memoirs, Inside the Third Reich, Albert Speer described Adolf Hitler's sense of humor to be almost entirely based on schadenfreude. Some examples Speer gave were mean jokes played on such ministers as Joachim von Ribbentrop, many of which Hitler or his friends initiated.
"Schadenfreude" is the title of a song in the 2004 Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q, sung by characters Gary Coleman and Nicky. The song features the line: "Happiness at the misfortune of others? That is German!"' Schadenfreude is described as both: "Happiness at the misfortune of others" and "People taking pleasure in your pain"
"Schadenfreude" is the title of a Boston Legal episode in which character Alan Shore (James Spader) uses the term to explain why defendants are convicted of an unrelated criminal offense after having been engaged in culturally unacceptable or possibly illegal activities.
"Schadenfreude" is the title of a second season episode of Cold Case.
Schadenfreude is referenced in the book Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut, as a character (Dr. Schadenfreude) in a short story written by Kilgore Trout.
Comedy group by the name of Schadenfreude^* works and performs in Chicago on Chicago Public Radio.

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Expressions and the term in other languages

In popular culture

See also