invidious

adjective

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in·vid·i·ous | \ in-ˈvi-dē-əs

Definition of invidious

1a : of an unpleasant or objectionable nature : obnoxious invidious remarks

b : of a kind to cause harm or resentment an invidious comparison

2 : tending to cause discontent, animosity, or envy the invidious task of arbitration

3 : envious

Other Words from invidious Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about invidious

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Synonyms & Antonyms for invidious

Synonyms

Antonyms

unenvious

Did You Know?

Fittingly, "invidious" is a relative of "envy." Both are descendants of "invidia," the Latin word for "envy," which in turn comes from invidēre, meaning "to look askance at or "to envy." ("Invidious" descends from "invidia" by way of the Latin adjective invidiosus, meaning "envious, whereas "envy" comes to English via the Anglo-French noun envie.) These days, however, "invidious" is rarely used as a synonym for "envious." The preferred uses are primarily pejorative, describing things that are unpleasant (such as "invidious choices" and "invidious tasks") or worthy of scorn ("invidious remarks" or "invidious comparisons").

Examples of invidious in a Sentence

The boss made invidious distinctions between employees. inevitably, his remarkable success attracted the invidious attention of the other sales representatives

Recent Examples on the Web Erecting private obstacles blocking public access to state laws is especially invidious. — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, "Column: A lawsuit aims to stop private firms from claiming copyrights on California laws," 18 Mar. 2021 The statement compared Israel’s border wall to the Berlin Wall and drew indirect but invidious analogies to apartheid, slavery and Nazism. — Barton Swaim, WSJ, "What Raphael Warnock Believes About Israel," 16 Dec. 2020 Even California’s liberal electorate signaled last month that crude and invidious affirmative action should remain a thing of the past. — Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, "A Nasdaq Chief’s Diversity Stunt," 8 Dec. 2020 This fusion of racial grievance and post-racialism created a toxic brew, poisonous to the ongoing efforts to contest white supremacy and protective of the invidious status quo that the Voting Rights Act had tried to interrupt. — Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, The New Republic, "Don’t Reboot the 2016 Horror Show," 23 Oct. 2020 The more invidious reason to claim that people are born with certain traits is to avoid having to help people do any better. — Eugenia Cheng, Wired, "How to Undo Gender Stereotypes in Math—With Math!," 25 Aug. 2020 Again and again, the metaphor gets invoked by leading politicians, typically as a warning against a hidden, invidious threat. — Ben Zimmer, WSJ, "‘Trojan Horse’: A Strategy That Keeps Hiding in Plain Sight," 21 Aug. 2020 When Britain’s death toll from the virus first surpassed those of other European countries in May, Johnson argued that country-to-country comparisons were invidious because governments collect and analyze data differently. — BostonGlobe.com, "UK has Europe’s worst surge in deaths during pandemic, study says," 31 July 2020 The Wirecard fraud has again brought to public attention the invidious negligence of some auditors. — Karthik Ramanna, Fortune, "The real problem with accounting firms: They don’t reward auditors that challenge clients," 11 July 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'invidious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

31 Mar 2021

Cite this Entry

“Invidious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invidious. Accessed 8 Apr. 2021.

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More Definitions for invidious

invidious

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of invidious

formal : unpleasant and likely to cause bad feelings in other people

See the full definition for invidious in the English Language Learners Dictionary

invidious

adjective

in·vid·i·ous | \ in-ˈvi-dē-əs

Legal Definition of invidious

: of, relating to, or being discrimination that arises from the creation of a classification that is arbitrary, irrational, or capricious and not related to a legitimate purpose