Leidenfreude
n.
a sense of paradoxical relief when something bad happens to you, which temporarily lowers your own expectations for yourself, transforming a faceless protagonist into something of an underdog, who’s that much easier to root for.
German Leiden, suffering + Freude, joy. Compare Schadenfreude, joy at the misfortune of others. Pronounced "lahyd-n-froi-duh.:
