macarism

mac•a•rism   (mak-uh-riz-uhm)   n

Definition
1. pleasure in or praise of another's joy; a beatitude
2. the practice of making others happy through praise and felicitation

macarize verb

Related

Synonyms: none found

Examples
• If we consider such typical examples of macarism  as the Beatitudes, or again such proverbial expressions as "Happy is the bride that the sun shines on; happy are the dead that the rain rains on", we can surely see that these sentences are not used to convey propositions. 1980
• This passage concerning David's macarism, therefore, is parenthetical as related to the main line of thought. 1889

The Storyline

She wasn't afforded the luxury, however, of experiencing macarism for their high spirits.

Origin

from the Greek makarismos, beatification; attribution of good fortune

Sources: Dictionary of Difficult Words, Free Dictionary, My Etymology

Why This Word:

When one sees the word schadenfreude, pleasure in another's sorrow or pain, it is almost always accompanied by a definition. It is both foreign and seldom used. Yet it's antonym is, sadly, more obscure. A GoogleFight between the words gives schadenfreude the win by a margin of 1,590,000 to 170.

Today, macarism is almost entirely a religious term, essentially in use synonymous with beatitude. And yet don't we need a word for taking pleasure in another's joy? Don't you want to be able congratualate yourself silently on the macarism you feel from another's good fortune?

Word-E: A Word-A-Day