Gloating Requires an Audience of One: Yourself
To gloat is to dwell on your own success or another's failure with obvious pleasure. The word once simply meant to stare.
To gloat is to take obvious, unpleasant pleasure in your own success or someone else's misfortune. The word first meant simply to look sidelong or stare, and it narrowed to the specific stare of malicious satisfaction. The staring is still part of it: gloating requires dwelling on the thing, not just feeling pleased. German has a single word for the related feeling — *Schadenfreude*, pleasure at another's misfortune — which English borrowed rather than invent one.
- To take smug pleasure. *Don't gloat.*
- To dwell on a victory. *He gloated over the win.*
- Gloating — the behaviour. *Insufferable gloating.*
- Schadenfreude — pleasure at others' misfortune. *Pure Schadenfreude.*
- Crow — a close synonym. *Crowing about it.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | gloat | Don't gloat. |
| Past | gloated | He gloated. |
| Noun | gloating | Endless gloating. |
| Adjective | gloating | A gloating tone. |
| Related | Schadenfreude | Schadenfreude. |
- She tried not to gloat.Restraint.
- He gloated over their defeat.Malicious.
- Schadenfreude is the German term.Related feeling.
Feelings English borrowed a word for
- Schadenfreude — German, pleasure at another's misfortune
- Angst — German, existential dread
- Ennui — French, weary boredom
- Saudade — Portuguese, longing for something absent
- Wanderlust — German, the urge to travel
Recorded from the 1570s meaning to look sidelong, probably from a Scandinavian source. The sense of malicious satisfaction developed by the 1700s.
What is Schadenfreude?
German for pleasure taken in someone else's misfortune. English borrowed it because it had no single word of its own.
Is gloating always about others?
No. You can gloat over your own success without anyone else's failure being involved.