Source — Merriam-Webster, "Schadenfreude"

Title: Schadenfreude (dictionary entry)
Author: Merriam-Webster (unauthored dictionary staff entry)
Publication: Merriam-Webster.com
URL: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schadenfreude
Date: undated (live dictionary entry; first-known-use date given inside the entry, see below)
Accessed: 2026-09-01
Type: tertiary (general-purpose English dictionary) — neutral, lexicographic stance.

Extract

Definition: "enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others."
Etymology: German, from Schaden ("damage") + Freude ("joy").
First known use: 1868 (Merriam-Webster's own dating — see Gaps for a disagreement with the OED-via-Wikipedia dates on file).
A companion "Word of the Day" page (2017-08-07) adds that schadenfreude "was a favored subject in Germany by the time it was introduced to English in the mid-1800s," discussed by "the likes of Schopenhauer, Kant, and Nietzsche" and appearing "in psychology books, literature for children, and critical theory" — this specific three-philosopher grouping is not independently corroborated on file: the Wikipedia article's own "Literary usage and philosophical analysis" section (checked directly, see its source page) names Schopenhauer by a sourced quotation but does not mention Kant or Nietzsche at all. This Merriam-Webster claim is filed as unconfirmed for Kant and Nietzsche specifically.
A separate entry exists for the plural "schadenfreudes," confirming Merriam-Webster treats the noun as countable in principle despite its normal uncountable use.

Disagreement on first English use: Merriam-Webster's "first known use" is 1868; the Wikipedia article (citing the OED, 1982 edition, and separately Google Books) reports German mentions in English texts in 1852 and 1867 and first use in running English text in 1895. Three different dates from two dictionary traditions — not resolved on file, recorded as a disagreement per project convention.
The "Schopenhauer, Kant, and Nietzsche" claim on the Word-of-the-Day page is not independently corroborated for Kant or Nietzsche — see Extract.