The German word “Schadenfreude” means to take pleasure in the misfortune of others. I wanted to know if there was a word that meant its opposite. I wondered if there was an opposite-a-freude. (Well, “freude” means “joy” in German so that doesn’t work, so let’s go with opposite-a-Freud, which has its own interesting connotations — or is only a cigar.)

My theory was that I couldn’t very well wish something from others, rather than receive its opposite, if I didn’t know its name. I found this in Wikipedia in the very entry for “Schadenfreude”:

“The Buddhist concept of mudita, ‘sympathetic joy’ or ‘happiness in another’s good fortune,’ is cited as an example of the opposite of schadenfreude.”

Let’s use it in a sentence:

“I feel an abiding mudita in regard to the Apollo moon landings.”

A little awkward, a little nerdy, but …

we can use it in more than one sentence, ya know.