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Meaning & use

envies

verb, noun·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˈenviz/
US/ˈenviz/

“envies” is a form of “envy”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.

Meanings

  1. verbtransitive

    Feels a wish for what another person has or can do, often with some bitterness.

    Grammar: Takes an object, or two: she envies her brother his talent.

    Patterns

    • someone envies someone
    • someone envies someone something

    He envies his neighbor's big garden.

    Everyone envies her calm attitude.

    She secretly envies her friend's freedom to travel.

  2. nounpluralrareliterary

    Feelings of jealous wanting; the plural of envy is rare and used for separate instances.

    Grammar: Rare plural of the noun envy; usually envy is uncountable.

    Patterns

    • the envies of someone
    • petty envies

    The novel explores the small envies of village life.

    Their friendship survived many petty envies.

    He hid his quiet envies behind a smile.

Word forms

base formenvy
past tenseenvied
-ing formenvying

Common combinations

openly envies
He openly envies his sister's career.
secretly envies
She secretly envies people who can sing.
envies someone's success
He envies his colleague's success.
envies someone for something
She envies him for his easy confidence.
petty envies
The story is full of petty envies.

Synonyms and how they differ

covets
Covets suggests a strong desire for a particular thing, often one that belongs to someone else, whereas envies is about the person or their situation.
resents
Resents focuses on anger at someone's good fortune, while envies is the wanting itself.
begrudges
Begrudges means to be unwilling to let someone have something, which is more hostile than simple envy.

Opposites

pities

Word family

envy noun
the feeling of wanting what someone else has
envious adjective
feeling or showing envy
enviable adjective
worth being envied
enviously adverb
in an envious way

Commonly confused: envies or jealous?

envies vs jealous

Jealous is often about fearing to lose someone's love, while envious is about wanting what another has.

Practice

Maya ___ her cousin's ability to speak four languages.

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