Enviable Meaning
/ˈɛn.vi.ə.bl̩/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjArousing or likely to arouse envy.
Sentence Examples
She has a very enviable position.
Sami and Layla led an enviable life.
Yanni and Skura were living an enviable life.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The athlete had an ____ physique that everyone admired.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He has an ____ reputation for being the most hardworking person in the office.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Old French enviebor. Middle English envie English envy Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English enviable From envy + -able (suffix meaning ‘able or fit to be done’ forming adjectives).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Sundrie other Gent[lemen] reſt beholden to this hundred, for their dvvellings, vvho, in an enuiable mediocritie of fortune, do happilie poſſeſſe themſelues, and communicate their ſufficient means to the ſeruice of their prince, the good of their neighbours, and the bettering of their ovvn eſtate: […]"
— 1609, Richard Carew, “The Second Booke”, in The Survey of Cornwall, London: […] S[imon] S[tafford] for Iohn Iaggard, […], →OCLC, folio 117, verso:
"In the course I have taken, I have met, and do daily meet, so many vexations, that I may with truth assure you, that my situation is anything rather than enviable, though it is my happiness to act with those that are far the best that probably ever were engaged in the public service of this country at any time."
— 1779 May 25 (date written), Edmund Burke, “Edmund Burke, Esq., to Richard Shackleton”, in Harold J[oseph] Laski, editor, Letters of Edmund Burke: A Selection […] (The World’s Classics; CCXXXVII), London; Edinburgh: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, published 1920, →OCLC, page 224:
"To superficial observers it might well seem that William [III of England] was, at this time, one of the most enviable of human beings. He was in truth one of the most anxious and unhappy."
— 1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 3:
"He [Douglas William Jerrold] had achieved many enviable dramatic successes before this time."
— 1863, [William] Wilkie Collins, “Douglas Jerrold”, in My Miscellanies. […], volume II, London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 83:
"This quarter of the city had at that time anything but an enviable reputation. To venture there at night was considered so dangerous that the soldiers from the outlying forts who came in to Paris with permission to go to the theatre, were ordered to halt at the barrière, and not to pass through the perilous district excepting in parties of three or four."
— 1881, Émile Gaboriau, chapter I, in [anonymous], transl., Lecoq, the Detective. […] (Gaboriau’s Sensational Novels; IV), part I (The Search), London: Vizetelly & Co., […], published 1886, →OCLC, page 5:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The athlete had an ____ physique that everyone admired.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He has an ____ reputation for being the most hardworking person in the office.