ENVIOUS


Meaning of ENVIOUS in English

ˈenvēəs, -viəs adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French envieus, envious, from Latin invidiosus, from invidia envy + -osis -ous — more at envy

1. : characterized by, exhibiting, or reflecting envy : feeling or motivated by envy : maliciously covetous or resentful of the possessions or good fortune of another

tried to look disappointed and angry but … only succeeded in looking envious — Hervey Allen

the sterile and envious principle of artificial equality — Time

examining the tire with envious appreciation — M.M.Musselman

2. archaic

a. : emulous

b. : enviable

theirs was an envious gift, but lightly held — Thomas Cole

Synonyms:

jealous: envious is likely to suggest a grudging of another's possessions and accomplishments, a spiteful desiring of their loss, or, most frequently, a malicious or cankerous coveting of them

his successes were so repeated that no wonder the envious and the vanquished spoke sometimes with bitterness regarding them — W.M.Thackeray

jealous may suggest distrustful, suspicious, angry, or malcontent intolerance of the notion of anyone else's coming to possess what is viewed as belonging to or befitting oneself

France, jealous as it was of his greatness and covetous of his Gascon possessions, he could hold at bay — J.R.Green

I know that religion, science, and art are all jealous of each other because each of them claims, in a sense, to cover the whole field, that is, to interpret all experience from its own point of view — W.R.Inge

It may be used without derogation to indicate cherishing and vigilantly guarding or maintaining

proud of their calling, conscious of their duty, and jealous of their honor — John Galsworthy

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.