schadenfreude
noun
Did you know?
Ever a popular lookup on our site, schadenfreude refers to the joy you might feel at another person’s pain. It’s a compound of the German nouns Schaden, meaning “damage,” and Freude, meaning “joy.” Schadenfreude was a favored subject in Germany by the time it was introduced to English in the mid-1800s; discussed by the likes of Schopenhauer, Kant, and Nietzsche, schadenfreude was showing up in psychology books, literature for children, and critical theory. In English, the word was used mostly by academics until the early 1990s, when it was introduced to more general audiences via pop culture. In a 1991 episode of The Simpsons, for example, Lisa explains schadenfreude to Homer, who is gloating at his neighbor’s failure; she also tells him that the opposite of schadenfreude is sour grapes. “Boy,” he marvels, “those Germans have a word for everything.”
Examples of schadenfreude in a Sentence
Alison Herman, Variety, 11 Feb. 2025
Online, conservatives and liberals alike have expressed reactions ranging from indifference to schadenfreude over Thompson's murder, citing their gripe with the U.S. healthcare system and the companies, like UnitedHealth, that have denied their medical claims in the past.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024
Regardless of the true motive behind Thompson's death, this flood of schadenfreude must serve as a wake-up call for both the insurance industry and policymakers.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024
In part, public reactions reflected how social media often rewards expressions of schadenfreude or the feeling of satisfaction when another person struggles.
—Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Schadenfreude.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schadenfreude. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
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