Schadenfreude Schadenfreude Schadenfreude (; ; 'harm-joy') is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another. It is one of four related emotions or concepts. Schadenfreude is a complex negative emotion. Rather than feeling sympathy towards someone's misfortune, schadenfreude evokes joyful feelings that take pleasure from watching someone fail. This emotion is displayed more in children than adults, however adults also experience schadenfreude, they are just better at concealing their expressions. "Schadenfreude" is borrowed from German; it is a compound of "Schaden", "damage, harm", and "Freude", "joy". The German
American (word) American (word) The meaning of the word American in the English language varies according to the historical, geographical, and political context in which it is used. "American" is derived from "America", a term originally denoting all of the New World (also called the Americas). In some expressions, it retains this Pan-American sense, but its usage has evolved over time and, for various historical reasons, the word came to denote people or things specifically from the United States of America. In modern English, "American" generally refers to persons or things related to the United States of America; among native English speakers