envious

English

Etymology

From Middle English envious, from Anglo-Norman envious, from Old French envieus, envious (modern French envieux), from Latin invidiōsus; more at envy. Doublet of invidious, borrowed directly from Latin. Displaced native Old English æfestiġ.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĕnʹvēəs, IPA^(key): /ˈɛnviːəs/

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Adjective

envious (comparative more envious, superlative most envious)

1. Feeling or exhibiting envy; jealously desiring the excellence or good fortune of another; maliciously grudging

   an envious man, disposition, or attack; envious tongues

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 37:1:

     Fret not thy ſelfe becauſe of euill doers, neither bee thou enuious againſt the workers of iniquitie.

   • 1827, [John Keble], The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC:

     My soul is envious of mine eye.

2. Excessively careful; cautious.
   • 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:

     for no man was ever so amorous, as to love a toad; none so envious, as to repine at the condition of the miserable

3. (obsolete) Malignant; mischievous; spiteful.
   • 1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC; Shakespeare’s Venus & Adonis: […], 4th edition, London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent and Co. […], 1896, →OCLC:

     Each envious brier his weary legs doth scratch.

     The spelling has been modernized.

4. (obsolete, poetic) Inspiring envy.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 39:

     He to him leapt, and that same envious gage / Of victors glory from him snatcht away.

Synonyms

• (excessively cautious): overcautious

Translations

feeling or exhibiting envy

• Arabic: حَسُود (ḥasūd)

  Egyptian Arabic: حسود (ḥasūd)

  South Levantine Arabic: حاسد (ḥāsed), غيران (ḡērān)

• Armenian: նախանձոտ (hy) (naxanjot), նախանձ (hy) (naxanj)
• Azerbaijani: paxıl
• Belarusian: зайздро́сны (zajzdrósny), заві́сны (zavísny)
• Bulgarian: зави́стлив (bg) (zavístliv)
• Catalan: envejós (ca)
• Cebuano: suyaon
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嫉妒的 (zh) (jídù de)

• Czech: závistivý (cs) m
• Danish: misundelig
• Dutch: jaloers (nl), nijdig (nl)
• Estonian: kade
• Faroese: øvundsjúkur
• Finnish: kateellinen (fi), kade (fi)
• French: envieux (fr)
• Galician: envexoso (gl) m
• Georgian: შურიანი (šuriani)
• German: neidisch (de), neidvoll (de)
• Greek: ζηλόφθονος (el) m (zilófthonos), ζηλιάρης (el) m (ziliáris)

  Ancient: φθονερός (phthonerós)

• Hungarian: irigy (hu), irigykedő (hu)
• Indonesian: iri (id)
• Irish: éadmhar
• Italian: invidioso (it)
• Japanese: 嫉妬深い (しっとぶかい, shitto bukai)
• Kazakh: қызғаншақ (qyzğanşaq)
• Korean: 부럽다 (ko) (bureopda)
• Ladin: nvidiëus
• Latin: invidus
• Latvian: skaudīgs
• Macedonian: завидлив (zavidliv)
• Maori: haetara
• Middle English: envious
• Norman: envieux
• Norwegian: misunnelig
• Occitan: envejós
• Old English: æfestiġ
• Persian: حسود (fa) (hasud)
• Polish: zawistny (pl), zazdrosny (pl)
• Portuguese: invejoso (pt)
• Romanian: invidios (ro), pizmaș (ro)
• Russian: зави́стливый (ru) (zavístlivyj)
• Sanskrit: ईर्षु (sa) (īrṣu)
• Scottish Gaelic: farmadach
• Serbo-Croatian: surevnjiv (sh) m

  Cyrillic: за́видан

  Roman: závidan (sh)

• Slovak: závistlivý
• Slovene: zavisten
• Spanish: envidioso (es)
• Swedish: avundsjuk (sv), misundsam
• Tocharian B: entsesse
• Turkish: kıskanç (tr)
• Ukrainian: за́здрісний (zázdrisnyj), зави́сний (zavýsnyj)
• Zazaki: peğil c

excessively careful

• Finnish: ylivarovainen
• German: betulich (de) (dated), fürsorglich (de)
• Spanish: receloso (es)
• Swedish: vaksam (sv)

malignant; mischievous; spiteful

• Finnish: ilkeä (fi)
• Greek: φθονερός (el) m (fthonerós)
• Middle English: envious
• Polish: zawistny (pl)
• Swedish: svartsjuk (sv)

See also

• jealous

Anagrams

• niveous, veinous

Middle English

Alternative forms

• envius, enwius, envyose, envyous, envyus

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French envieux, from Latin invidiōsus; equivalent to envie +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛnviˈuːs/, /ˈɛnvius/

Adjective

envious (plural and weak singular enviouse)

1. aggressive, malignant
2. envious (having envy)
3. (rare) competitive

Descendants

• English: envious

References

• “enviǒus, adj.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “enviǒus, adj.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Alternative forms

• enviös, envieus

Etymology

From Latin invidiōsus.

Adjective

envious m (oblique and nominative feminine singular enviouse)

1. envious; jealous
   • c. 1170, Wace, Le Roman de Rou:

     Mez mult part fu cruel e mult fu envious

     But [he] was very cruel and very jealous

Descendants

• French: envieux
• Norman: envieux
• → Middle English: envious, envius, enwius, envyose, envyous, envyus
  • English: envious