Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
Wiktionary
- n. Malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune.
WordNet 3.0
- n. delight in another person's misfortune
Etymologies
- German : Schaden, damage (from Middle High German schade, from Old High German scado) + Freude, joy (from Middle High German vreude, from Old High German frewida, from frō, happy).
Examples
“The one that pops to mind is "schadenfreude" - the German word that means, pleasure in the mishap coming to a friend.”
“It is this sort of nonsense that makes the whole world get to grip with the term schadenfreude whitout really disliking the brits, England claim they invented football but it is long gone since they can dictate who or were the game is to be played.”
“I have always been curious about the German word schadenfreude which is such a perfect translation of a Chinese proverb - xing zai le huo (幸灾乐祸).”
“Here is an example of the service with the German word 'schadenfreude' (click to enlarge):”
“In this one, she writes about her favorite word, the German word "schadenfreude," and raises a question about its relation to Detroit.”
“A teasing highlight of the book comes in a parenthetical aside, when Kipnis notes that psychologists have found that schadenfreude is always most potent in areas of what they call 'self-relevance.”
The Washington Post: Laura Kipnis's "How to Become a Scandal," reviewed by Ellen McCarthy
“Other than continuing to bang on Jenn, I'm unclear on the point of continuing to drag this thread out (unless schadenfreude is the only thing remaining, which isn't either helpful or sporting).”
GUEST POST: Jennifer Brissett Weighs in on the Writer Pay Rate Flap
“(Surveys, lab experiments, and brain readings all show that, for better or worse, schadenfreude is a powerful psychological force: at any fixed level of income, people are happier when the income of others is reduced.)”
“And Mr. Henry 's arrival suggests the schadenfreude is over.”
“Perhaps it is a new kind of form of schadenfreude, a German word meaning "a malicious joy in the misfortunes of others.”
The Huffington Post: Kristen Houghton: Michaele Salahi Joins the Club for the Infamous
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘schadenfreude’.
-
Iaan
dirigisme, dystopia, cacotopia, ex ante, veritable, indefatigable, curmudgeon, desultory, antediluvian, transmogrify, pendent, elongate and 138 more...
-
Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 1128 more...
-
Words build meanings from origins( etymology )
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 837 more...
-
People are Scum
words that one may enjoy using to describe other people or their actions
degenerate, reprobate, scapegrace, capricious, sycophant, arbitrary, infernal, abominable, iniquitous, nefarious, philistine, sadistic and 30 more...
-
plans for the weekend
No new unlisted words/phrases, please! Only list existing ones.
ruddy with booze ..., I go out horking...., attend pubs that ..., harvest kidneys, bowling balls, chandeliers, lampshade, Saran Wrap, croodle, kite, anal thermometer,..., plinth and 44 more...
-
♗
euonym, eidolon, aurulent, sable-vested, aether, seraph, woodwose, je ne sais quoi, silver-tongued, schadenfreude, cri de coeur, mare's nest and 10 more...
-
Side effects may include...
Before you take that medication, you'd better read the warning label.
nausea, sweating, dizziness, dry mouth, drowsiness, vomiting, walking like an E..., spontaneous decap..., amnesia, anosmia, weltschmertz, flatulence and 68 more...
-
2011 Spelling Bee Bingo
List now closed! Thanks for your "bets"!
Think you can guess the word that will win the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee? We've started this open list for your guesses and if you gue...verisimilitude, schwag, zeitgeist, diarrhoea, phlox, peripatetic, psellism, tarradiddle, yemeles, corroboree, Erinacious, polatouche and 19 more...
-
• Iroquoisy
Isn't it? (See definition on iroquoisy.)
iroquoisy, iroquois, fruit bat, coccyx, heiligenschein, homesick, schadenfreude, awooga, tralatition, pessary, Kateri Tekakwitha, Cilicia and 27 more...
-
Tricky Words from German
Loanwords from German -- some established, some wet behind the ears -- that are difficult to spell, pronounce, or remember.
Torschlusspanik, Fräulein, weltanschauung, Weltschmerz, sprachgefühl, schadenfreude, katzenjammer, Radfahrer, gemütlich, zeitgeist, gesellschaft, gemeinschaft and 48 more...
-
Bright Folk
Some words I come across in my legal studies, though not really legal jargon. And the usage doesn't shout, "hey, I think I'm smart", just simply, "this is what applies in this context."
verbose, inter alia, ostentatious, usurp, presumptuous, anachronistic, unfettered, sine qua non, amenable, subversive, irreducible, penumbra and 27 more...
-
Fancy Foreign Words
de facto, Zeitgeist, schadenfreude, apropos, per se, Auteur, tookus, de rigueur, xyst, arrivederci, sotto, troika and 5 more...
-
Open List: SUGGESTIONS FOR THE UNDERSCORE!
Recruiting all Wordieniks to introduce me to their best word friends!! If words were people, this is the list for ones I should meet and ones I will (hopefully) like.
gyre, penultimate, cake, schadenfreude, lacuna, skedaddle, schopfling, morphoanatomy, overscore, swasivious, brightling, phrontisserie and 17 more...
-
International House of Fufluns
Fufluns, as everyone knows, are the tasty treats that are great warm, cold, covered in sprinkles, or thrown at one's friends. Here's a list of what fufluns are called in various places around the w...
Fufluns, fufluns, fufuns, muffin, cupcake, quesadilla, Runza, pasty, savory hand pie, hand pie, pierogie, pan de fuf and 33 more...
-
Lingu-list
Words from other languages that are used, or would work well, in English. Also known as "loanwords."
hikikomori, ersatz, angst, barbecue, algebra, macho, burlesque, garage, voyeurism, avatar, jungle, looting and 15 more...
-
Emotions
affection, longing, cheerfulness, pride, optimism, relief, success, suprise, irritation, rage, hope, love and 29 more...
frogapplause Bilby twins. Double the ears! Sep 26, 2011
bilby How did you get hold of my baby photos? Sep 26, 2011
frogapplause testing... testing. Sep 26, 2011
frogapplause My favorite schadenfreude photos
Sep 26, 2011
ruzuzu Hahaha! I'm the 500th person to list this word.
How does that make you feel? Jun 29, 2011
ruzuzu "My pulled-out-of-thin-air theory is that around the dotcom bust, people started using 'schadenfreude' because it felt good to see all those overnight-millionaire 20-year-olds get knocked back down to earth, and then more people were aware of the word and it started being used more regularly as appropriate things came up in the news–Martha Stewart’s insider-trading conviction, Bernie Madoff’s cancer rumor, and so on."
--"The Rise of Schadenfreude" by Mignon Fogarty (a.k.a. Grammar Girl). Dec 5, 2010
john There isn't, but I've been meaning to revive that forever, and will soon. Nov 11, 2010
milosrdenstvi Wonders: is there still a "list of most listed words"? Nov 11, 2010
ruzuzu From the examples for schadenfreude:
I have always been curious about the German word schadenfreude which is such a perfect translation of a Chinese proverb - xing zai le huo (幸灾乐祸).
—Danwei - Media, Advertising, and Urban Life in China
In this one, she writes about her favorite word, the German word "schadenfreude," and raises a question about its relation to Detroit.
—Freep.com - RSS
Detroit? Uh... of course! It all makes sense now.... Aug 5, 2010
reesetee I saw that! Just blame Facebook--that's the spirit. ;-) Jan 3, 2010
dontcry I was just a victim of in-your-face schadenfreude by my Jewish neighbor on facebook! I'd call her on it but she's so nice that I think I'd actually be guilty of schadenfreude if I did... I think I'll just blame facebook and get on with it. Jan 2, 2010
nickbomb that a way to be confident!!!!!!!!!!! Dec 30, 2009
yarb Take this word and stick it where the sun don't shine! Nov 19, 2009
PossibleUnderscore You guys make me laugh! Nov 19, 2009
bilby Help is at hand! Nov 19, 2009
uselessness I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks unsavory thoughts upon seeing that menu. Nov 19, 2009
dontcry ...snort it. Nov 19, 2009
gangerh Take this word and ... Nov 19, 2009
bilby Ask gangerh if he'll cook up some chaudenfroidgeon for you. Oct 6, 2009
milosrdenstvi Came across French words "chaud" and "froid" today. Meaningful??? Oct 6, 2009
shbhrsaha a very interesting article, reesete. Jul 17, 2009
PossibleUnderscore I suppose I shouldn't ask why? Nevertheless, I am rather curious... Jul 17, 2009
reesetee Thanks Possible--but in the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I'm on the anti-"S-word" team myself (as many veteran Wordies already know). Jul 13, 2009
PossibleUnderscore Thanks reesetee for the link. Lovely word, now with more meaning.
Jul 11, 2009
maravamudan What a Red Sox fan feels when the Yankees are on a big losing streak Jul 5, 2009
wordlover42 Love this word.. taking pleasure in others' misfortune Jun 20, 2009
reesetee Here's the science behind it. :-) Mar 20, 2009
Prolagus We can ask telofy... Jan 20, 2009
bilby Oi, we're in the area of sociolinguistics here. Germans do have a deep sense of guilt and it doesn't seem at all implausible that the concept may exist in a social sense as they have described. Jan 20, 2009
sionnach That's a nice story, but is quite implausible, given that the root-word is "Freude", which unquestionably denotes 'joy' or 'pleasure'. Jan 20, 2009
bilby Interesting reader comment to the article kindly linked by trivet:
"I recently used Schadenfreude in the company of two native German speakers. They were emphatic that English speakers are not using the word in its precise sense. They stated that to a German speaker, Schadenfreude means feeling badly or guilty about the pleasure one feels when because of another’s misfortune. If one has no pangs of conscience or guilt when enjoying another’s misfortune, that is not, they claimed, Schadenfreude." Jan 20, 2009
chained_bear This word turning up here today is rather Iroquoisy for me. See here for an interesting take. Jan 20, 2009
Prolagus It's interesting how the comments on this page are numerous enough to equal the "appears in these lists" column. Jan 20, 2009
taciturnyetprolix Those Germans have a word for everything. Jan 20, 2009
trivet Today's NYT. Jan 13, 2009
gangerh How can you laugh,
when you know I'm down? (How can you laugh?).
Oh yeah. Jan 8, 2009
cherfukinggee I saw the meaning for this word as some girls headline a while back, and for some reason i took some interest. But to use it in a conversation; I feel dumb. Just because it sounds weird. Plus most people I know, don't even know what it means. Sometimes that becomes a bit annoying. So I stopped taking a like to it. But now for some reason, I enjoy it. Dec 19, 2008
chained_bear For me, skipvia, it's just that it's so mean-spirited. Nov 19, 2008
skipvia After much thought, I've decided to love this word just because everyone else hates it so. That way, I can experience schadenfreude each time a Wordie squirms at its appearance...
Geez--now that I've actually used it in a sentence, I hate it even more. Never mind.
What is it about this word? Nov 19, 2008
mollusque "People" is also the first six letter word on the list. I wonder what the first seven letter word is. There's apparently no easy way to find out. Nov 19, 2008
chained_bear Good! Let's kick this word when it's down. That would give me great pleasure. Nov 19, 2008
bilby According to wordcount.org, which tracks the most commonly used words in English, this word ranks at 76,291. That's out of 86,800 in their database. Serendipity, on the other hand, happily scoots in at 54,600. Other Wordie favourites quixotic 43,055, loquacious 55,235 and ennui 54,693 are also modestly placed. The first semantically-loaded rather than functional word in the count is arguably people, ranked 81. Nov 19, 2008
sionnach 366! Gaah. Enough already. stop taking so much joy in the misfortune of others, wordie.
Vote for chipmunk! Nov 13, 2008
bilby The more you like it the better I loathe it. Oct 11, 2008
smeggo The more you hate it the better I like it. Oct 11, 2008
bilby A definitive prat-splatting, indeed! Sep 8, 2008
johnmperry If this doesn't bring on definitive schadenfreude, I don't know what will! Sep 8, 2008
sionnach Well. I have yet to list the infamous s-word. But how else to describe the joy that watching "Engineering Disasters" on The Hitlery channel's "Modern Marvels" brings me.
I could watch footage of baggage being chewed up in the infamous Denver Airport's baggage handling debacle for hours on end.
Does this make me a bad person? Aug 7, 2008
reesetee I like the sound of the x in quixotic, actually. Jun 20, 2008
asativum You got it, Pro. I was going to say "x as in expresso", but I knew I'd never forgive myself for actually typing ...
Sigh. Jun 20, 2008
Prolagus I just found this list! Jun 20, 2008
Prolagus Sorry? X as in WHAT?! Jun 20, 2008
asativum burntsox, quixotic is only horrid if you say it the way Americans seem to, pronouncing the x as in espresso.
A nice faux-Spanish pronunciation, with the x like an English h, is positively poetic.
Jun 20, 2008
dontcry It's a terrible word and a terrible concept! This word would never be allowed on the porch! *stomp, stomp* Jun 20, 2008
gangerh (n): a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction
Jun 13, 2008
burntsox No. 2 (quixotic) isn't so uplifting either. Haters of the S-word are placing all our hopes on serendipity, which is fitting ... but if there were any justice, loquacious would top the site. I'm off to do my part! Jun 5, 2008
bilby "That the report of Sebastian Imhof's grave illness might also have been tinged with Schadenfreude appears not to have crossed Lucas's mind."
- 'Flesh and Spirit', Steven Ozment.
The capitalisation here is just as ugly as the word itself. Common nouns are not capitalised in English, regardless of what happens in German. Pass the bucket please. May 29, 2008
coldspire
- Datacube of tech-support guy Alex Jacobson, Deus Ex.
One more plug for the runaway schadenfreude train (with a zeitgeist plug to nab a miserable double)!
May 26, 2008
bilby Ptero, your failure to list pshawdenfreude will cost you Wordie points. That's a humdinger. Apr 21, 2008
sionnach tsk, tsk gangerh! (Or do I mean tut-tut?) :-)
Don't make me do it. Up until now I have not actually been guilty of listing the dreaded s-word (as far as I know). But I'm starting to feel a little like c_b, all this bashing may just force me into a solidarity listing.
But - heaven forfend - far be it from me to interfere with anybody's fun. I think I was just tempted by the opportunity to say pshaw.
Please carry on!
psionnach Apr 20, 2008
pterodactyl I think gangerh is having a bit of pshawdenfreude over there. ;-) Apr 20, 2008
gangerh I tried that c_b and it seems that the count is per Wordie who lists the word rather than per number of times listed. Apr 20, 2008
gangerh Pshaw to you too, s-ionnach! We're having fun and if you don't like it you can always take your list home. So there! ;~> Apr 20, 2008
chained_bear I'm actually starting to feel a little sympathy for poor schadenfreude, considering all the abuse it's taken lately. I thought about adding it to each one of my lists, just to see if it would rack up the count and tick people off (hee...) but I didn't. Yet. Apr 20, 2008
sionnach Oh, pshaw to this lobbying for specific words in an effort to dethrone the most commonly listed. This is not the Colbert Nation.
I think you guys are making far too much of this. Being most commonly listed is no more than that - it does not imply, for instance, that people like the word, or in any way consider it among their favorites. Apr 20, 2008
pterodactyl Suggestions, eh? Well, right now the #2, #3, and #4 words are quixotic, serendipity, and loquacious. All three of these have meanings that could be applied to Wordie, I think, and their popularity makes us seem like a good-natured lot.
If one of the three were to overtake schadenfreude, I wouldn't shed a tear. Apr 20, 2008
gangerh schadenfreudgeon, of course! Vote now! Apr 19, 2008
bilby Molly's nailed it. Some dislike the S-word for what it is but many, philosophically, would like to see something more positive up there. Any suggestions? Apr 19, 2008
Prolagus (*Still singing*) Apr 19, 2008
reesetee I dislike the s-word because I think it's overused. As we all started discussing why we disliked it, we seemed to have given it the Wordie treatment and it became a sort of collective we-hate-this-word thing.
And never hesitate to ask. No one will kick you off Wordie. (Well, John could, but he's not that kind of dictator.) Apr 19, 2008
mollusque If only 50 people had listed the word, I think the dislike would be much less intense. But the top rank combined with the meaning says something a bit dispiriting about us collectively. Why couldn't a word like sprachgefuhl (also listed as sprachgefühl) be the top of the list? That would be frabjous! Apr 19, 2008
plethora Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering.
As for moist, I personally associate it with bodice rippers, which not only makes it dirty in my mind, it gives it connotations of poor quality and veneral diseases.
But that's just me :D Apr 19, 2008
sionnach I second plethora's question. For that matter, why the hatred of moist? Apr 19, 2008
Prolagus Yes, I wanted to ask, too, but I never dared... How did it all start? Who found out that nothing can capture a heart... oops, sorry. Now I'm singing. And dancing. Apr 19, 2008
plethora At the risk of becoming a Wordie outcast for the rest of Wordieternity, I have to ask... Why is this word so hated? Apr 19, 2008
reesetee I would never wish that on a fellow Wordie-ite. Apr 19, 2008
gangerh 'Spose the s-word is what you feel now 'cause I did get 'sucked in', r-t! Apr 19, 2008
gangerh 'Spose the s-word describes you now 'cause I did get 'sucked in', r-t! Apr 19, 2008
reesetee Oh no, sir! I for one did not get sucked into that trap! You will see no trace of the s-word on any of my mind-numbingly long lists. No siree.
*harrumphs*
P.S. Gangerh, you can remove it. Just click on "delete" right after the listing. And hurry, before someone sees you there and adds it in solidarity! Apr 19, 2008
vanishedone Seeing this word appearing so often in the comments list lately, I've developed a growing fondness for it... Even favouritism...
(Actually I just like to sing it to the tune of the Hallelujah Chorus, for some reason.) Apr 18, 2008
gangerh Aha! So 'tis possible that, after erinfern first listed it, 305 Wordies put it down as their least favourite? schadenfreudgeon demands a re-count! Apr 18, 2008
john Gangerh, you may have just made bunch of people very happy. Since about two weeks after Wordie launched, I've meant to make it so that least favorite words didn't count towards the number of times a word has been listed. And I think I never got around to it.
So this weekend I'll see if that's correct, and fix it if so. And we'll see if the S-word gets taken down a few notches. Maybe the reason it's been on top of the charts is because it's so hated. Apr 18, 2008
gangerh Oh no! Help! I added the s-word as my least favourite and I think it added one to the count for it! Is this so? If it is, how can listing your least favourite word add to its popularity? Sacrilege-bleu! Is it a bug or am I bugdudgeoning? Btw,schadenfreudgeon is why I did it. Can I cancel it? Apr 18, 2008
john It would be pretty straightforward for me to calculate the top 100 at any given time. What I'd love to do is create some kind of dynamic histogram of how the top 100 has evolved. Or devolved. No promises, but I'll work on that someday. Apr 18, 2008
Prolagus SOMEONE DID IT AGAIN! Apr 18, 2008
shoepixie Higher than truthiness? I suppose that's one less point for the Hipster-ness of Wordie users, but our sadism is cemented.
It's a reassuring thought! Apr 15, 2008
reesetee I must have been grandfathered in, then, thank heavens. Apr 14, 2008
bilby Does John have this on the sign-up confirmation page?
Thank you for joining Wordie, please add schadenfreude to complete the registration process. Apr 13, 2008
Prolagus See also chairekakiophobia. Apr 5, 2008
reesetee Haha. I'm enjoying the fact that you can't, jennarenn. Apr 2, 2008
jennarenn It is a *shame* that I can't add this word to conversations. Apr 2, 2008
reesetee I'm certain it does. It would be just like this word. Apr 1, 2008
bilby Hmmm. Do you think this word, when it lies awake in its bed at night, delights at the misfortune of other words in not being most-listed? Apr 1, 2008
yarb I have a feeling fuck is on the wane, which given the other words in the top 100 is a shame. Jejune? Azure? Pulchritude? Give me strength. Mar 29, 2008
mollusque I'm sorry to report that the S-word has hit 300. I don't think anything is gaining on it either.
Here's the rest of the top 100. Did anyone keep a record of what it looked like a year ago or at other times? It would be interesting to see how the rankings have changed.
2. quixotic (227)
3. serendipity (217)
4. loquacious (193)
5. ennui (191)
6. plethora (185)
7. mellifluous (174)
8. obfuscate (169)
9. verisimilitude (164)
10. sanguine (162)
11. sesquipedalian (161)
12. ephemeral (159)
13. lugubrious (158)
14. onomatopoeia (156)
15. love (154)
16. syzygy (154)
17. cacophony (153)
18. defenestrate (152)
19. antediluvian (147)
20. defenestration (145)
21. crepuscular (144)
22. zeitgeist (144)
23. callipygian (140)
24. curmudgeon (136)
25. ubiquitous (135)
26. persnickety (135)
27. cerulean (135)
28. moist (131)
29. egregious (131)
30. ethereal (129)
31. esoteric (129)
32. palimpsest (128)
33. doppelganger (127)
34. superfluous (127)
35. portmanteau (125)
36. cantankerous (124)
37. pulchritude (122)
38. ersatz (119)
39. insouciant (117)
40. inchoate (116)
41. macabre (116)
42. mercurial (115)
43. obsequious (115)
44. synecdoche (115)
45. lackadaisical (115)
46. halcyon (114)
47. conundrum (112)
48. miasma (112)
49. salacious (111)
50. penultimate (110)
51. quotidian (110)
52. capricious (110)
53. nefarious (108)
54. anathema (107)
55. clandestine (107)
56. taciturn (106)
57. wanderlust (105)
58. erudite (104)
59. facetious (104)
60. pedantic (103)
61. akimbo (103)
62. solipsism (101)
63. jejune (100)
64. lithe (100)
65. peripatetic (100)
66. soliloquy (100)
67. apotheosis (99)
68. flibbertigibbet (98)
69. zephyr (95)
70. chiaroscuro (95)
71. epiphany (95)
72. neologism (95)
73. soporific (94)
74. vapid (92)
75. laconic (92)
76. palindrome (92)
77. quagmire (91)
78. nascent (91)
79. azure (91)
80. obstreperous (91)
81. avuncular (90)
82. brouhaha (90)
83. kerfuffle (89)
84. troglodyte (89)
85. melancholy (88)
86. paradigm (88)
87. recalcitrant (87)
88. unctuous (87)
89. sardonic (87)
90. prolix (87)
91. supercilious (86)
92. prestidigitation (85)
93. diaphanous (85)
94. lachrymose (84)
95. moxie (84)
96. fuck (84)
97. ineffable (84)
98. snarky (84)
99. perspicacious (84)
100. truthiness (83) Mar 29, 2008
reesetee Yes indeed. And that's about all I have for you. :-) Sep 18, 2007
npydyuan "one brief, shining moment"?
maith go leor! Sep 18, 2007
reesetee Npydyuan, for one brief, shining moment you almost made me like this word.
But then it passed. Sep 18, 2007
npydyuan Being sometimes a saccharine optimist, I can't help opining that the reason others' pain is funny is not that ha-ha, it's you instead of me, but rather an instinctual, communal response to tragedy: an affirmation that, despite obstacles, injuries, and atrocities, we survive anyway. Laughter springs not from a sense of superiority, but from a sense of connectedness. Sep 17, 2007
whichbe Clearly the popularity of this word demonstrates the collective sadism of Wordie users. Jun 21, 2007
sonofgroucho "Die reinste freude ist die schadenfreude." May 31, 2007
evin290 That's what stairs are for. May 20, 2007
reesetee Hmph. Guess you told ME. ;-) May 14, 2007
uselessness Y'see, I thought of that question myself. But I knew that I'm indie enough to get away with answering "BOTH!" So there. :-P May 11, 2007
reesetee Wait...the words are more obscure or you have more of them that are obscure?
Oh cripes, I keep doing that. Occupational hazard.... May 11, 2007
uselessness You're just jealous because I have more obscure words than you. May 11, 2007
abraxaszugzwang Quit being all indie snob, U! May 11, 2007
reesetee You'll not see my name on here, u. I dislike the word as much as you do. Eeesh. May 10, 2007
uselessness 232?!? Now that's just getting out of hand. And I still can't stand this word.
People, stop adding it! Resist the temptation! It's not that great, really!! May 10, 2007
seanmeade schadenfreude is terminally overused, but what a great word! truly captures that common, base feeling. Mar 26, 2007
alguien Due to flagrant overuse, schadenfreude has been depreciated from a twenty-dollar word to a dime a dozen. If only the supply of words could be restricted in the same manner as currency. Mar 26, 2007
jrome The schadenfreude may now reign down, but that doesn't seem like a reason not to do so. http://evhead.com/2007/02/marketplace-wanted-web-site-for-sale.asp Feb 21, 2007
jennarenn I'm willing to bet that schadenfreude stays on the most wordied, past seven days list because it is always listed on the homepage. Akimbo went through a similar period. Feb 11, 2007
johnwarren Overrated word that has caught on wildly in an age when people giggle at the "Darwin Awards," etc. Dec 31, 2006
dbmag9 Schadenfreude seems to be one of the most primal pleasures. Television shows abound are filled with examples: man falls off ladder, child flies off swing, bucket falls onto woman. In one sense it is a valuble learning experience: you are glad you weren't in that position, and make a note not to be in it yourself. But why is it so funny? The only answer I can give is that it expresses the joy you have, build in by millenia of evolutionary conditioning, that you were not the weak one who ended the chain, that, whilst others may fail, you go on to live another day. Dec 7, 2006
quotato The next time I see someone fall on the ice I am going to help them up. Dec 6, 2006
andrew.simone Also, the only equivalent phrase (that I am aware of) in English is Lucretian joy Dec 6, 2006
andrew.simone laugharn brilliantly named schoenfraun schadenfreude's sad emo cousin. Dec 6, 2006
kenspeckle Best used in Avenue Q. Dec 6, 2006
seanahan Or the English version, epicaricacy. Dec 2, 2006
rgmwilliams . . . promotes the meaning of this word every day and every minute and in every way . . . Dec 2, 2006
karnage why take pleasure in this word/ other people's suffering. Or wow, other people's lists of insipid words: "sash, dash cash"? Let's have some sapidity, please! Dec 1, 2006