Word of the day: Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude

[shä-dᵊn-ˌfrȯi-də]

Part of speech: noun

Origin: German

1.Pleasure taken from the misfortune of others

2.A desire to see others suffer

Examples of schadenfreude in a sentence

"I experienced schadenfreude after hearing that my horrible manager had been fired."

"Sarah couldn't help but feel a bit of schadenfreude when she discovered that the man who'd stolen her car was now in prison."

About Schadenfreude

It's no surprise that the word schadenfreude is a gift from the German language — it's a literal combination of the German words for "harm or misfortune" and "joy."

Did you Know?

Schadenfreude comes to us from German, where it is capitalized. However, that's not required when it's used in English.