Pleasure or malicious joy taken in the misfortunes, troubles, or failures of others..
Pleasure or malicious joy taken in the misfortunes, troubles, or failures of others.
Passive rather than active: one enjoys observing another's misfortune, unlike the active cruelty of malice or the outward triumph of gloating. The misfortune is the source of pleasure — not one's own success.
Schaden “damage, harm” + Freude “joy” = “damage-joy.”
German compound of Schaden (“damage, harm”; cf. English “scathe”) + Freude (“joy”). Consistent across Merriam-Webster and etymonline.
A long-standing subject of German thought (Schopenhauer, Nietzsche). Entered English in the mid-1800s (Merriam-Webster dates first English use to 1868; etymonline says 1922 — sources disagree). Remained largely academic in English until the early 1990s, after which pop culture (notably a 1991 Simpsons scene) brought it to general audiences.