envy

1 of 2

noun

en·​vy ˈen-vē 

plural envies

1

: painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage

2

obsolete : malice

3

: an object of envious notice or feeling

his new car made him the envy of his friends

envy

2 of 2

verb

envied; envying

transitive verb

1

: to feel envy toward or on account of

2

obsolete : begrudge

intransitive verb

obsolete : to feel or show envy

envyingly

ˈen-vē-iŋ-lē 

adverb

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Jealousy vs. Envy

Depending on who you ask, jealousy and envy are either exact synonyms, totally different words, or near-synonyms with some degree of semantic overlap and some differences. It is difficult to make the case, based on the evidence of usage that we have, for either of the first two possibilities. Both jealousy and envy are often used to indicate that a person is covetous of something that someone else has, but jealousy carries the particular sense of “zealous vigilance” and tends to be applied more exclusively to feelings of protectiveness regarding one’s own advantages or attachments. In the domain of romance, it is more commonly found than envy. If you were to say “your salt-shaker collection fills me with jealousy,” most people would take it to mean much the same thing as “your salt-shaker collection fills me with envy.” But if someone made a flirtatious comment to your partner, you would likely say that it caused you jealousy, not envy.

Synonyms

Noun

• covetousness
• enviousness
• green-eyed monster
• invidiousness
• jealousy
• resentment

Verb

• begrudge
• resent

Examples of envy in a Sentence

Noun

my envy of his success

Their exotic vacations inspired envy in their friends.

We watched with envy as the yacht slid past us.

Verb

I envy you for your large group of friends.

I envy the way you've made so many friends.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The love that Mariska Hargitay gets from you postgame is the envy of every other Knicks fan, Knicks celebrity fan. —Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 7 May 2025

The Emerald, Jameson notes, portrays both envy and passion in every sip. —Jenn Rice, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025

Verb

Together, these provide a wealth of data that any neuroscientist would envy — analogous to a perfect map of a person’s brain, along with separate electrodes to monitor the activity of each neuron. —Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025

No one to observe the lovers, no one to envy the middle-aged man with the much younger girl taking a romantic (if windy) walk along the beach at Cape May in December. —Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English envie, from Anglo-French, from Latin invidia, from invidus envious, from invidēre to look askance at, envy, from in- + vidēre to see — more at wit

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing envy

• green with envy
• object of envy
• penis envy

Kids Definition

envy

1 of 2 noun

en·​vy ˈen-vē 

plural envies

1

: painful or resentful awareness of an advantage or possession enjoyed by another and the desire to possess the same thing

2

: an object of envy

she was the envy of all her friends

envy

2 of 2 verb

envied; envying

: to feel envy toward or on account of

envier noun

envyingly

-iŋ-lē 

adverb