ENVY (envied)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: envied   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does envy mean? 

• ENVY (noun)
  The noun ENVY has 2 senses:

1. a feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another

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

  Familiarity information: ENVY used as a noun is rare.

• ENVY (verb)
  The verb ENVY has 2 senses:

1. feel envious towards; admire enviously

2. be envious of; set one's heart on

  Familiarity information: ENVY used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENVY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

enviousness; envy

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

envy; invidia

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)

• ENVY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they envy    ... he / she / it envies   
Past simple: envied   
Past participle: envied   
-ing form: envying   

Sense 1

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be envious of; set one's heart on

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

begrudge; envy

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)

 Context examples 

No! Mediocrity, no: do not let envy prompt you to the thought.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Lady Lucas herself has often said so, and envied me Jane's beauty.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

That's what I should like to be,—envied for my man.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I don't envy her much, in spite of her money, for after all rich people have about as many worries as poor ones, I think, added Jo.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“My dearest Catherine, I quite envy you; but I am afraid, brother, you will not have room for a third.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

He paused in his recollections long enough to envy them the spectacle he and Cheese-Face had put up.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

When she heard this she started with rage; but her envy and curiosity were so great, that she could not help setting out to see the bride.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Jackson having replied with a readiness which many a public man might have envied, my uncle rose once more.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The envy is an intellectual product.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

In my honeymoon, too, when my most inveterate enemy might relent, one would think, and not envy me a little peace of mind and happiness.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)