envy

CEFRC1

/ˈɛnvi/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A feeling of wanting what another person has.

  2. 02

    verb

    To wish you had something another person has.

Examples

  • Anne is the envy of all her friends.

  • I envy you your luck.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An object of envious notice or feeling.

  2. Hatred, enmity, ill-feeling.

  3. Resentful desire of something possessed by another or others (but not limited to material possessions).

More examples

In context

  • Your success excites my envy.

  • c. 1631-1636, John Ford, The Fancies Chaste and Noble Such as cleanliness and decency Prompt to a virtuous envy.

  • Envy, to which the ignoble mind's a slave, Is emulation in the learned or brave.

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She felt a pang of blank when she saw her friend's new car.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English envie, from Old French envie, from Latin invidia (“envy”), from invidere (“to look at with malice”), from in- (“on, upon”) + videre (“to look, see”). Doublet of envie. Cognate to Proto-Slavic *zavistь (“envy”). Displaced native Old English æfest and Old English nīþ.