schadenfreude
schadenfreude — noun
1. pleasure that you secretly or openly feel when bad luck, failure, or embarrassme
pleasure that you secretly or openly feel when bad luck, failure, or embarrassment strikes a person you envy or dislike
Naoko felt a secret sense of schadenfreude when her arrogant colleague lost the promotion.
uncountable noun: 'a sense of schadenfreude'
Kevin felt schadenfreude watching his rival trip over a microphone cord on stage.
possessive determiner: 'his schadenfreude'
Social media feeds fill with schadenfreude whenever a famous person faces a public scandal.
Lakshmi quietly admitted her schadenfreude when the rude customer was asked to leave.
There is something unpleasant about the schadenfreude people feel toward a disgraced celebrity.
- gloating
Gloating emphasises the outward, visible expression of pleasure (smiling, boasting), whereas schadenfreude can be a private, unexpressed feeling.
- malicious joy
A more direct and openly negative phrase; schadenfreude is a neutral, analytical term borrowed from German.
- compassion
Compassion means feeling concern for someone's suffering; schadenfreude is the opposite — taking pleasure in it.
- sympathy
Sympathy shares its focus on others' misfortune but responds with sadness or concern rather than pleasure.
用法筆記
Uncountable noun in standard English — it cannot be pluralised (*schadenfreudes). Borrowed from German (Schaden 'harm' + Freude 'joy'); it entered English in the 19th century and retains a slightly formal or literary tone. Common in the construction feel / experience / express + schadenfreude.