Schadenfreude synonym.

[aachu]

Please tell me the synonym of Schadenfreude (Delight in another person's misfortune).

 

[5jj]

There isn't one - that's why we use the German word.

 

[aachu]

Thank you sir. I thought there would be one.

 

[aachu]

Is there not even a verb in English sir, that meant 'to take pleasure from other persons misery'?

 

[SoothingDave]

No. There is no English word for this. You would simply experience or enjoy or feel schadenfreude.

 

[konungursvia]

However, there are numerous expressions that could express something similar without conceptualising it in the German way... smiling triumphantly (given a certain context), laughing at someone's misfortune, saying "ah hah" in the Bart Simpson intonation, etc... It's not like the 80% of the English speaking population that doesn't know that German word have no awareness of the phenomenon, or never express anything related to it.

 

[Rover_KE]

Epicaricacy

epicaricacy (uncountable)

(rare) Rejoicing at or derivation of pleasure from the misfortunes of others.

Usage notes
The word is mentioned in some early dictionaries, but there is little or no evidence of actual usage until it was picked up by various "interesting word" websites around the turn of the twenty-first century.

(Wiktionary.com)

Rover

 

[5jj]

It's not like the 80% of the English speaking population that doesn't know that German word have no awareness of the phenomenon, or never express anything related to it.

Indeed. Aachu used the words commonly used by native speakers- delight in another person's misfortune.

 

[TomUK]

Not a teacher

Is there not even a verb in English sir, that meant 'to take pleasure from other persons misery'?

There is. It is "to tax" as in HM Revenue & Customs, but I think that is not exactly what you were after.

The word Schadenfreude is normally not used in plural; so there is no 'n' at the end. It is a compound noun made up of Schaden (= damage) and Freude (= joy). In my German - English dictionary it is translated as 'malicious joy'.

TomUK

 

[TheParser]

Please tell me the synonym of Schadenfreude (Delight in another person's misfortune).

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) Some people suggest that you simply use the German word. After all, we

use coup d'etat without any problems. So you should feel free to go ahead and

use schadenfreude. Your readers or listeners will be flattered to think that you

feel that they are intelligent enough to know that word.

(2) If you do not wish to use it, then simply use the "translation" given to us

by a very old but highly respected book on "good" English, The King's English

by the great H.W. Fowler: malicious pleasure.