Is there a single-word German antonym of "schadenfreude"?

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Request for Question Clarification by leapinglizard-ga on 08 Jun 2005 10:07 PDT

Schadenfreude is joy at the misfortune of others. The opposite of this
notion could be sorrow at the misfortune of others, or joy at the good
fortune of others. Which of these are you looking to express with a
single German word?

leapinglizard

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Clarification of Question by nautico-ga on 08 Jun 2005 10:09 PDT

Joy at the good fortune of others.

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Clarification of Question by nautico-ga on 08 Jun 2005 11:09 PDT

Freude am Glück von anderen? But I guess we're not going to find a
single-word antonym that enjoys common use.

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Clarification of Question by nautico-ga on 09 Jun 2005 00:02 PDT

I guess we've gone about as far as we can on this one, and so I'm
closing the question. It's been fun!

As a native speaker of German, I am certain that the answer is: No,
there is no single-word antonym to the noun "Schadenfreude".

Scriptor

I don't really think so.  "Schadenfreude" is such succinct expression
of such a very common  - but not very  respectable -  feeling.

"single-word German antonym"

"Mitleid"  =  Compassion, literally: "suffering with"  i.e., not
having any joy at another's suffering.

"Mitfreude"  = share in someone's happiness.

Mitfreude ist eine Art des Mitgefühls, Freude an der Lust anderer,
»eigene Lust aus der Vorstellung fremder Lust« (KREIBIG, Werttheor. S.
109). JEAN PAUL: »Zum Mitleiden genügt ein Mensch; zur Mitfreude
gehört ein Engel« (Hesperus). - Nach W. STERN bedeutet die Mitfreude
über eine sittliche Handlung »die Freude über den Sieg eines beseelten
Wesens über die schädlichen Eingriffe der objektiven Außenwelt ins
psychische Leben« (Das Wes. d. Mitleid. S. 7; Gr. d. Eth.). Vgl.
PLATNER, Philos. Aphor. II, § 867 ff.). Vgl. Sympathie.

http://www.textlog.de/4453.html

That ought to cover both alternatives.

Myoarin

"Mitfreude" is an absolutely uncommon expression. Technically, it's an
antonym of "Schadenfreude", and the Duden dictionary lists it. In real
life, however, it's extremely rare - I have never heard or read it
before.

Scriptor

Is viewing the world through rose-colored glasses called Pinkfreude?

Pink, you're a hoot-and-a-half, as usual!

"Pinkfreude"? That's a word that was really missing in the German
language! I shall propose it to the Conference of Ministers for
Education, so they can include it in the vocabulary.

Scriptor, your joking reference to submitting "Pinkfreude" to the
Conference of Ministers for Education reminded me of Iceland's
attitude toward the introduction of new Icelandic words, especially
those that have a foreign root, or worse yet, those foreign words
that, if accepted, would be seen to threaten the purity of the
Icelandic language. The best example: "television." Shortly after TV
became a staple in the developed world, Iceland's committee on
language devised a word that denoted "flying picture" and admonished
the populace to use it, not "television"!

Just out of curiosity, and the hope that I can use this word
sometimes, what is the correct pronounciation of "Schadenfreude"? 
Danke

This should do, I think: Shah-dan-froy-duh.

Check out the audio file here.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=schadenfreude

leapinglizard

O Freunde, nicht diese Toene!
... 
Schadenenfreude, schoener Goetterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium ...

(with sincerest apologies to the shade of Schiller)

"Sang froid"?
http://www.answers.com/sang-froid&r=67

French and not German,
it means coolness and not joy.
Opposite it is.