schadenfreude
/ˈʃɑː.dənˌfɹɔɪ.də/
"schadenfreude" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“schadenfreude” is uncommon English (frequency #57,701 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,701
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | schadenfreude |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈʃɑː.dənˌfɹɔɪ.də/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #57,701 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “schadenfreude” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
schadenfreude is uncommon English at frequency #57,701 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈʃɑː.dənˌfɹɔɪ.də/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for schadenfreude, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: An unadapted borrowing from German Schadenfreude (“joy in the misfortune of others”), from Schaden (“damage, misfortune”) + Freude (“joy”). The word gained popularity in English in the late 20th c. and likely entered mainstream usage through an episode of T… The correct English form is schadenfreude, spelled S-C-H-A-D-E-N-F-R-E-U-D-E.
Definition
- 1Malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune.
Etymology
An unadapted borrowing from German Schadenfreude (“joy in the misfortune of others”), from Schaden (“damage, misfortune”) + Freude (“joy”). The word gained popularity in English in the late 20th c. and likely entered mainstream usage through an episode of The Simpsons (more in citations).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “schadenfreude”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-C-H-A-D-E-N-F-R-E-U-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈʃɑː.dənˌfɹɔɪ.də/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.