I. en ‧ vy 1 /ˈenvi/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle envied , present participle envying , third person singular envies ) [transitive]
1 . to wish that you had someone else’s possessions, abilities etc:
I really envy you and Ian, you seem so happy together.
She has a lifestyle which most people would envy.
envy somebody something
He envied Rosalind her youth and strength.
2 . I don’t envy you/her etc spoken used to say that you are glad that you are not in the bad situation that someone else is in
II. envy 2 BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: envie , from Latin invidia , from invidere 'to look at with bad feelings' , from videre 'to see' ]
1 . the feeling of wanting something that someone else has ⇨ jealousy
with envy
He watched the others with envy.
envy of
his envy of the young man’s success
twinge/pang of envy
I felt a twinge of envy when I saw them together.
She could see that all the other girls were green with envy (=feeling a lot of envy) .
2 . be the envy of somebody to be something that other people admire and want to have very much:
an education system that is the envy of all European countries