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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



... have carried on their struggle for more than a quarter of a century, under conditions which make it demonstrable that their present inequality of strength and means is the direct consequence of these divergencies. Their long-continued emulation, passing through all the stages of envy, hatred, and political contention, has finally culminated in bloody civil war; and from the peculiar circumstances of the case, the termination of the contest, if the parties be left to themselves, will fully and fairly test ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 3 No 2, February 1863 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various
... my dear Ronquerolles," said the Marquis, addressing Mme. de Serizy's brother, "you used to envy me my good fortune, and you used to blame me for my infidelities. Pshaw, you would not find much to envy in my lot, if, like me, you had a pretty wife so fragile that for the past two years you might ...
— A Woman of Thirty • Honore de Balzac
... a long breath when Bob had finished, "I'm glad you gave him a good licking, Bob. I envy you because you had the chance first. I'd like to get a ...
— The Radio Boys' First Wireless - Or Winning the Ferberton Prize • Allen Chapman
... persecute and kill him." "Kill him!" exclaimed the eager group of listeners; "kill Him? how should they, how could they, how dare they kill God?" "I did not say, kill God," would have been wise Socrates's reply, "for God existeth ever: but men in enmity and envy might even be allowed to kill that human form wherein God walked for an ensample. That they could, were God's humility: that they should, were their own malice: that they dared, were their own grievous sin and peril of destruction. Yea," ...
— The Complete Prose Works of Martin Farquhar Tupper • Martin Farquhar Tupper
... indignation to that degree, that I immediately writ remarks on that essay. I also writ upon part of his translation of 'Homer,' his 'Windsor Forest,' and his infamous 'Temple of Fame.'" In the same pamphlet he says:—"Pope writ his 'Windsor Forest' in envy of Sir John Denham's 'Cooper's Hill;' his infamous 'Temple of Fame' in envy of Chaucer's poem upon the same subject; his 'Ode on St. Cecilia's Day,' in envy of Dryden's 'Feast of Alexander.'" In reproaching Pope with his peculiar rhythm, that monotonous excellence, which soon became mechanical, he ...
— Calamities and Quarrels of Authors • Isaac D'Israeli


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