as in jealousy
a painful awareness of another's possessions or advantages and a desire to have them too
their envy of their neighbor's fancy home threatened to wreck their friendship
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to resent
to have a resentful awareness of and desire for (another's possessions or advantages) or to feel resentment toward (someone) over possessions or advantages
her coworkers envied her chummy relationship with the senior vice president they envied him because he didn't have to work for a living
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of envy
Emma Burrows, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2025
Sofia D’Amato, a 22-year-old Venetian, emphasized that the protests weren’t about envy for Bezos’ wealth or power.
—Sharon Braithwaite, CNN Money, 28 June 2025
Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 24 May 2025
The latter posted her Met Gala look three times to her 87.2 million Instagram followers, garnering a total of almost 10 million likes and 47 million replies, numbers any brand would envy.
—Laurie Brookins, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for envy
Noun
Finland’s civil defense shelters are the envy of the Nordics and can fit around 86% of the Finnish population.
—Emma Burrows, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2025
Sofia D’Amato, a 22-year-old Venetian, emphasized that the protests weren’t about envy for Bezos’ wealth or power.
—Sharon Braithwaite, CNN Money, 28 June 2025
Verb
One picture shows a child standing next to a display of astronomical instruments—a readymade that Yves Tanguy would have envied.
—Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 24 May 2025
The latter posted her Met Gala look three times to her 87.2 million Instagram followers, garnering a total of almost 10 million likes and 47 million replies, numbers any brand would envy.
—Laurie Brookins, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for envy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for envy
Noun
-
At times, things got extra heated as emotions were heightened due to jealousy and hurt feelings.—
Joelle Goldstein,
People.com,
27 June 2025
-
La Piscine’s dark summer romp through the dangers of lust, jealousy, and gluttony proves nothing is ultimately sexier than the privilege of indifference.—
Erik Morse,
Vogue,
26 June 2025
Verb
-
Butler had been a Panther himself, and had resented Pratt’s elevation as Los Angeles leader.—
Christopher Goffard,
Los Angeles Times,
28 June 2025
-
Unfortunately, but understandably, many Iranians have come to resent the Palestinian cause—precisely because the regime has used it as a pretext to squander the country’s precious resources on its militia proxies in the name of fighting Israel.—
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib,
The Atlantic,
26 June 2025
Noun
-
It's been very difficult to see just how much of this hatred has been normalized.—
Leila Fadel,
NPR,
1 July 2025
-
Period drama enthusiasts will be interested to know that Wright set the movie in the late-18th century instead of the early-19th century in part because of his hatred of empire waist dresses.—
Lia Beck,
EW.com,
25 June 2025
Noun
-
None of that is his fault, but frustration built up in the fanbase and developed into resentment from a section.—
Harry De Cosemo,
Forbes.com,
7 July 2025
-
Still, longtime fans had resigned themselves to watching grainy clips on YouTube, concluding that the resentment between the Gallaghers ran too deep to ever prompt a reunion.—
Paula Mejía,
Vulture,
5 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Envy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/envy. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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