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Envy   /ˈɛnvi/   Listen
noun
Envy  n.  (pl. envies)  
1.
Malice; ill will; spite. (Obs.) "If he evade us there, Enforce him with his envy to the people."
2.
Chagrin, mortification, discontent, or uneasiness at the sight of another's excellence or good fortune, accompanied with some degree of hatred and a desire to possess equal advantages; malicious grudging; usually followed by of; as, they did this in envy of Caesar. "Envy is a repining at the prosperity or good of another, or anger and displeasure at any good of another which we want, or any advantage another hath above us." "No bliss Enjoyed by us excites his envy more." "Envy, to which the ignoble mind's a slave, Is emulation in the learned or brave."
3.
Emulation; rivalry. (Obs.) "Such as cleanliness and decency Prompt to a virtuous envy."
4.
Public odium; ill repute. (Obs.) "To lay the envy of the war upon Cicero."
5.
An object of envious notice or feeling. "This constitution in former days used to be the envy of the world."


verb
Envy  v. t.  (past & past part. envied; pres. part. envying)  
1.
To feel envy at or towards; to be envious of; to have a feeling of uneasiness or mortification in regard to (any one), arising from the sight of another's excellence or good fortune and a longing to possess it. "A woman does not envy a man for his fighting courage, nor a man a woman for her beauty." "Whoever envies another confesses his superiority."
2.
To feel envy on account of; to have a feeling of grief or repining, with a longing to possess (some excellence or good fortune of another, or an equal good fortune, etc.); to look with grudging upon; to begrudge. "I have seen thee fight, When I have envied thy behavior." "Jeffrey... had actually envied his friends their cool mountain breezes."
3.
To long after; to desire strongly; to covet. "Or climb his knee the envied kiss to share."
4.
To do harm to; to injure; to disparage. (Obs.) "If I make a lie To gain your love and envy my best mistress, Put me against a wall."
5.
To hate. (Obs.)
6.
To emulate. (Obs.)


Envy  v. i.  
1.
To be filled with envious feelings; to regard anything with grudging and longing eyes; used especially with at. "Who would envy at the prosperity of the wicked?"
2.
To show malice or ill will; to rail. (Obs.) "He has... envied against the people."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Envy" Quotes from Famous Books



... the very best. It must not be supposed that Wesley did not feel this isolation. There is a sadness about the strain in which he wrote to Benson in 1770. 'Whatever I say, it will be all one. They will find fault because I say it. There is implicit envy at my power (so called) and jealousy therefrom.' Wesley was not demonstrative, but he was a man of strong affections and acute feelings, and he felt his loneliness, and more so than ever after the death of his brother Charles. There is a touching story ...
— The English Church in the Eighteenth Century • Charles J. Abbey and John H. Overton
... hell! Woman, from LeFroy down, you have collected about you as pretty a gang of cut-throats and outlaws as could have been found in all the North. Lapierre has seen to that. I do not envy you your school. But as long as you can be turned to their profit your personal safety will be assured. They are too cunning, by far, to kill the goose that ...
— The Gun-Brand • James B. Hendryx
... and by you'll begin to look about you for things to help—I mean hospitals and charities, and all that. The only time when I envy great wealth is when I see some wrong which money can right. Mr. Fordyce is a lawyer, but not a very famous one—he's only twenty-eight; and while we are likely to have all we really need, we can't begin to do what we'd like to do for others. I suppose ...
— Money Magic - A Novel • Hamlin Garland
... Brand answered, "I was pondering upon the inequalities of life. Yesterday I was a King, and a most uncomfortable position it was! To-day you are King—and"—he glanced at Marie—"it is a trial to one's disposition to refrain from envy." ...
— The Traitors • E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
... poison of our social system had so saturated her nature—his evening dress, his freedom and his money had seemed so fine to her and I so clothed in squalor—that to that prospect she had consented. And to resent the social conventions that created their situation, was called "class envy," and gently born preachers reproached us for the mildest resentment against an injustice no living man would now either endure ...
— In the Days of the Comet • H. G. Wells


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