schadenfreude
noun
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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
Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 14 July 2025
And then there was the schadenfreude of those who had already decamped to greener pastures.
—Leo Schwartz, Fortune, 30 June 2025
Musk’s detractors might easily fall into schadenfreude.
—Patrick George, The Atlantic, 18 June 2025
What To Know The German word schadenfreude means taking pleasure in someone else's misfortune.
—Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for schadenfreude
Cite this Entry
“Schadenfreude.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schadenfreude. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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