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schadenfreude

noun/ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə/

C1CEFR level
50/100Rarity: uncommon
NeutralRegister

Pleasure taken in another’s misfortune.

He watched the rival firm stumble with quiet schadenfreude.

Similar: gloating

Origin: German Schaden 'harm' + Freude 'joy'.

Topic: Emotion in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: Emotion