envyverb [ T ]
uk/ˈen.vi/us/ˈen.vi/B2 to wish that you had something that another person has:
I envy her ability to talk to people she's never met before.
[ + two objects ] I don't envy you the job of cooking for all those people.
More examples
- Some of his colleagues envy the enormous wealth that he has amassed.
- Her luxurious lifestyle and personal ostentation were both hated and envied.
- I don't envy him his heavy workload.
- The man in the story starts to envy his friend's single lifestyle.
- She had always envied her sister's thick glossy hair and long willowy legs.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Envy and jealousy
- all right
- be green with envy idiom
- covet
- covetable
- covetous
- enviable
- envious
- green
- grudge
- jealous
- jealousy
- possessive
envynoun [ U ]
uk/ˈen.vi/us/ˈen.vi/B2 the feeling that you wish you had something that someone else has:
I watched with envy as she set off for the airport.
Compare
jealousy
be the envy of sb
C2 to be liked and wanted by a lot of people:
Her hair is the envy of the office.
More examples
- Envy is one of the seven deadly sins.
- She felt a stab of envy when she saw all the expensive presents Zoe had been given for Christmas.
- She felt a faint stirring of envy when she heard that one of her colleagues had been promoted.
- Ben's heading off to Spain for the week and I'm green with envy.
- She felt a wave of envy towards her friend, on seeing how happy she was.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Envy and jealousy
- all right
- be green with envy idiom
- covet
- covetable
- covetous
- enviable
- envious
- green
- grudge
- jealous
- jealousy
- possessive