Ever wonder why in spelling bees they allow you to ask for the origin of the word? It’s because a lot of English words have foreign language origins and retains its original spelling when it assimilates into the English language. That’s one of the reasons why English is so hard to spell.
Schadenfreude means joy in other people’s misfortunes. It is used as a noun. It’s very useful and I learned it a long time ago. It comes from German: Schaden=harm, freude=joy.
Pronounced like this:
SHOD-in-fry-duh
The e at the end is always pronounced, a remnant from German pronunciation.
…or for those people who know IPA:
/ˈʃɑd
nˌfrɔɪdə/
Example:
You usually use it as “a feeling of schadenfreude” because it’s a noun.
“I get a feeling of schadenfreude when something bad happens to my enemy”