# What's the opposite of "schadenfreude"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717 "2005-06-03T14:10:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/1 "2005-06-03T14:10:27Z")
Schadenfreude is happiness at another’s misfortune, like the gleeful jokes when Martha Stewart got arrested or the critics who got such obvious pleasure out of trumpeting how bad _Gigli_ was. So what’s the opposite? Is there a word for “unhappiness at another’s success”? Example: when an obscure band that you’ve been a huge fan of for years suddenly gets big and every teenybopper in the city packs into their shows and it pisses you off. Sure, you’re glad that they’re getting recognition for how great they are, but at the same time you really liked things better when there were only like 10 people at their shows. (Yeah, this happened to me last night at the Andrew Bird concert.) So what’s the word? Is there one? If not, I think we should invent one. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/2 "2005-06-03T14:16:14Z")
Umm…I dunno, _Envy_? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/3 "2005-06-03T14:22:50Z")
“Envy” is close, but it suggests that the envier wants the other person’s success for himself, which isn’t really the case here. I’m talking about resenting someone’s success because it interferes with your relationship with them. The same thing might happen if your best friend became a famous Hollywood actor and you resented it, _not_ because you wanted to be an actor yourself, but because you never got to see him anymore. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/4 "2005-06-03T14:24:13Z")
sour grapes is the term i would use. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/5 "2005-06-03T14:45:58Z")
And so would Lisa Simpson. _Man, those Germans have a word for everything!_ ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/6 "2005-06-03T18:35:40Z")
Using only the internet as my guide, the best I can find is _glueckschmerz_. [Cite 1](http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=2551727) [Cites 2-5](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=glueckschmerz&btnG=Google+Search) A lot of people/places think that the opposite of schadenfreude is [_mudita_](http://www.indopedia.org/Mudita.html), a Buddhist word that means happiness at the success of others, but I think that those people/places need to brush up on the meaning of the word “opposite.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/7 "2005-06-03T18:42:08Z")
“When Good Things Happen to Bad People” ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/8 "2005-06-03T19:59:34Z")
Empathy? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/9 "2005-06-03T20:25:38Z")
I’m with \*\*BDT \*\*on this one. Auf Deutsch: Neid. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/10 "2005-06-03T21:18:19Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Empathy? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/11 "2005-06-04T00:14:39Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Empathy? Looks like you read the title but not the post. He doesn’t want “feeling bad about the misfortune of others”, he wants “feeling bad about the good fortune of others.” Now as far as which is really the “opposite”, that’s a whole other question. ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/12 "2005-06-04T00:37:39Z")
There’s an additional question: If schadenfreude is happiness at the misery of others, is the opposite resentment, or feeling mad/upset at the happiness or success of others, or is it the true opposite of happiness, that is feeling sad (which is different than anger or resentment) at the happiness or success of others? In other words, could you really feel bad/sad (like you might when thinking of the sadness of world hunger) because someone is successful or happy? Perhaps if that person is Hitler? ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/13 "2005-06-04T00:39:53Z")
> [@jackelope](#): > > “Envy” is close, but it suggests that the envier wants the other person’s success for himself, which isn’t really the case here. I’m talking about resenting someone’s success because it interferes with your relationship with them. > > The same thing might happen if your best friend became a famous Hollywood actor and you resented it, _not_ because you wanted to be an actor yourself, but because you never got to see him anymore. By the way, what you are doing here I think muddles the issue, because it is really “jealousy,” but not because you want something they have but because something has been taken away from you. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/14 "2005-06-04T00:48:42Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Using only the internet as my guide, the best I can find is _glueckschmerz_. If you search for “Glückschmerz”, you’ll get more hits, most referring to or quoting [this article](http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200503080749.asp). The word would literally mean something like “luck pain”, but I sure can’t find any evidence of actual Germans using it. Maybe we should just use “resentment”. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/15 "2005-06-04T01:02:41Z")
> [@elfbabe](#): > > I sure can’t find any evidence of actual Germans using it. Hey, the OP didn’t ask for a word that Germans (or any others) actually _use_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/16 "2005-06-04T01:44:14Z")
In German I would use “Missgunst”. It is a bit similar to envy, but without the implication that you want anything for yourself. Somebody else experiences/has something positive and you have a problem with that. Yes, we have a word for every negative thing on earth. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/17 "2005-06-04T04:33:56Z")
Actually, it sounds more like yo’re _missing the old intimacy_ you used to have. I don’t think anyone’s going to make a word just for this one. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/18 "2005-06-04T05:21:46Z")
> [@One And Only Wanderers](#): > > sour grapes is the term i would use. That is a (lamentably common) misuse of the term though. It’s supposed to refer to a situation where you can’t get something you want so you tell yourself that it wasn’t any good to begin with. See the [fable](http://www.bartleby.com/17/1/31.html). ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Woodruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sarah\_Woodruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Woodruff)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/19 "2005-06-04T08:35:50Z")
Jealousy? Low self-esteem? ---
**Author:** ![barracuda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@barracuda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barracuda)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-opposite-of-schadenfreude/306717/20 "2005-06-05T01:47:27Z")
While we are on the topic of recondite German expressions, I hope someone can tell me a term meaning a feeling of dread or presentiment of bad news. It has been also described as the feeling you get when a goose walks across your future grave.