malicious glee
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malicious glee
Malicious pleasure in another person's misfortune, harm, or mishap. It is often accompanied by mockery and contempt.
Er konnte die Häme in der Stimme seines Konkurrenten nicht überhören.
He couldn't fail to hear the malicious glee in his competitor's voice.
'Die Häme' (malicious glee) is the noun related to the adjective 'hämisch' (maliciously mocking). If someone is 'hämisch', that person feels or shows 'Häme' (malicious glee).
Sein Kommentar war voller Häme.
His comment was full of malicious glee.
'Häme' (malicious glee) is an abstract noun and is used almost exclusively in the singular. It describes the feeling itself and is not countable.
Nach seiner Niederlage musste er viel Häme ertragen.
After his defeat, he had to endure a lot of malicious glee.
'Häme' (malicious glee) is often combined with certain verbs and prepositions: 'Häme empfinden' (to feel malicious glee), 'voller Häme sein' (to be full of malicious glee), 'etwas mit Häme sagen' (to say something with malicious glee). A very common fixed expression is 'Häme und Spott' (malicious glee and mockery).
Sie konnte ihre Häme kaum verbergen, als ihr Kollege einen Fehler machte.
She could hardly hide her malicious glee when her colleague made a mistake.
mockery / bargain
Here, Spott refers to the comments or actions used to make someone look ridiculous because of a mishap. Häme, by contrast, is the malicious pleasure taken in that mishap, even though it is often accompanied by Spott. The key question is whether the reaction itself or the pleasure at someone else’s misfortune is meant.
Nach dem verschossenen Elfmeter zeigte ein anderer Spieler offene Häme über Bens Pech.
After Ben missed the penalty, another player openly took malicious pleasure in his bad luck.
Nach dem verschossenen Elfmeter musste Ben den Spott der anderen Spieler ertragen.
After missing the penalty, Ben had to endure the other players’ mockery.
