Baldenfreude

A novel variety of Schadenfreude – pleasure felt at the misfortune of others – relating specifically to the discomfiture of those with little or no hair.

Commenting in The Times on the brouhaha surrounding NBC’s recent scheduling difficulties, Maureen Dowd remarked:

As NBC reeled from the fallout of Jeff Zucker’s tacit admission that his attempt to refashion the customary way Americans watch prime time had failed, Hollywood was ablaze with baldenfreude.

(In January 2009, Philip B. Corbett reported in After Deadline on the increasing popularity of the word Schadenfreude among Times writers. In 1980, Schadenfreude did not appear in the paper at all; in 1995, the word appeared seven times. Thereafter, its use crept up – reaching a record-breaking 43 appearances in 2008.)