schadenford

S1C3H4A1D2E1N1F4O1R1D2

noun

Perverse pleasure derived from observing the foibles of Toronto mayor Rob Ford.

Scrabble 21
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

schadenford1

nounschadenford (uncountable)
  1. uncountableAlternative letter-case form of Schadenford.

Schadenford2

nounSchadenford (uncountable)

alternative schadenford

  1. CanadahumorousuncountablePerverse pleasure derived from observing the foibles of Toronto mayor Rob Ford.

    [title] Schadenford: The arrest of Rob Ford, city hall hoser

    2008 March 28, Philip Preville, “Schadenford: The arrest of Rob Ford, city hall hoser”, in Toronto Life
    2 more examples

    The situation prompted some Twitter users to resurrect the term “schadenford” — taking pleasure at the mayor's misfortunes — and a play on the German word schadenfreude.

    2011, Colin Perkel, “Police chief backs Mayor Ford on 911 call after ‘22 minutes’ fiasco”, Canadian Press (St. Albert Gazette), October 28

    In 2013, there's nothing remotely acceptable about engaging in Schadenford, a term coined by Toronto Life in 2008, when then-councillor Rob Ford was charged with assault and uttering death threats in a domestic incident involving his wife. Already a national punchline, Rob Ford went international, with U.S. TV talk shows engaging in their own particular form of Schadenford -- sketches about a nice, polite Canadian city with a buffoon leader who does a modern-day Marion Barry impression.

    2013 May 26, Bartley Kives, “When the Ford jokes stop”, in Winnipeg Free Press

Origin

2008, blend of schadenfreude (“malicious enjoyment of another’s misfortune”) + Ford (“surname”). Coined by Philip Preville in the title of a Toronto Life article.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

schadenford. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schadenford

MLA

“schadenford.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schadenford. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “schadenford,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schadenford.

Source: schadenford on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.