Library / English Dictionary

ENVY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: envied   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Spite and resentment at seeing the success of another (personified as one of the deadly sins)

Synonyms:

envy; invidia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("envy" is a kind of...):

deadly sin; mortal sin (an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace)

Derivation:

envious (showing extreme cupidity; painfully desirous of another's advantages)

envy (be envious of; set one's heart on)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another

Synonyms:

enviousness; envy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("envy" is a kind of...):

bitterness; gall; rancor; rancour; resentment (a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "envy"):

covetousness (an envious eagerness to possess something)

green-eyed monster; jealousy (a feeling of jealous envy (especially of a rival))

penis envy ((psychoanalysis) a female's presumed envy of the male's penis; said to explain femininity)

Derivation:

envy (be envious of; set one's heart on)

envy (feel envious towards; admire enviously)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be envious of; set one's heart on

Synonyms:

begrudge; envy

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "envy" is one way to...):

desire; want (feel or have a desire for; want strongly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "envy"):

covet (wish, long, or crave for (something, especially the property of another person))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody something

Derivation:

envy (spite and resentment at seeing the success of another (personified as one of the deadly sins))

envy (a feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Feel envious towards; admire enviously

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "envy" is one way to...):

admire; look up to (feel admiration for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody something

Sentence example:

Sam cannot envy Sue

Derivation:

envy (a feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I never listened to a distinguished preacher in my life without a sort of envy.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

In one respect he is the object of my envy.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

That his repentance of misconduct, which thus brought its own punishment, was sincere, need not be doubted;—nor that he long thought of Colonel Brandon with envy, and of Marianne with regret.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I had formerly, upon occasion, discoursed with my master upon the nature of government in general, and particularly of our own excellent constitution, deservedly the wonder and envy of the whole world.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

What I began to do was to envy the doctor walking in the cool shadow of the woods with the birds about him and the pleasant smell of the pines, while I sat grilling, with my clothes stuck to the hot resin, and so much blood about me and so many poor dead bodies lying all around that I took a disgust of the place that was almost as strong as fear.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But he had an approved tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds; and in any extremity inclined to help rather than to reprove.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Here they were interrupted by the absolute necessity of Charles's following the others to admire mirrors and china; but Anne had heard enough to understand the present state of Uppercross, and rejoice in its happiness; and though she sighed as she rejoiced, her sigh had none of the ill-will of envy in it.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

"Has one in the village yet to fall sick from the eating of it? How dost thou know that witchcraft be concerned? Or dost thou guess, in the dark, merely because of the envy that consumes thee?"

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

All the men in her circle seemed to admire her and envy me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)