Schadenfreude

Meaning: The guilty little pleasure of taking satisfaction in someone else's misfortune.

Language: German

Literally: harm-joy

Category: Emotion

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

More untranslatable words — Emotion

Fernweh — An aching longing for far-off places you've never been — the opposite of homesickness.
Gigil — The overwhelming urge to squeeze or pinch something unbearably cute.
Iktsuarpok — The restless anticipation that makes you keep stepping outside to see if someone is final…
Toska — A dull ache of the soul; a great longing with nothing in particular to long for.
Dépaysement — The disorienting yet often pleasant feeling of being far from home, immersed in the unfam…
Retrouvailles — The joy of reuniting with someone after a long time apart.

Weltschmerz — The weariness and sadness you feel when the world as it is falls painfully short of the w…
Torschlusspanik — The anxious fear that time is running out — that the gates of opportunity, youth, or life…
Kummerspeck — The weight you gain from emotional eating — the extra pounds that accumulate during heart…
Fremdschämen — The vicarious embarrassment you feel for someone who is doing something cringeworthy — ev…
Drachenfutter — A peace-offering gift brought home to a partner after staying out too late or doing somet…
Verschlimmbessern — To make something worse in a well-intentioned attempt to improve it.

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