noun / verb
envy
EN-vee/ˈenvi/
A resentful desire for what someone else has.
The man's resentful glance reveals envy of the woman's larger fish.
Etymology
The image is looking upon someone with malice: the ancestral verb meant casting an evil eye before it meant envying. That hostile gaze connects seeing another person's advantages with resenting them.
In context
The vice city lords looked at Luoba with envy—who'd have thought a blessing in disguise, losing an arm, would leave his strength surpassing the City Lord's.
More examples
- He envies his brother's spacious house and resents his own cramped apartment.
- Envy makes it hard for me to celebrate her success.
- I envied their wealth instead of appreciating what I had.
Forms
envy · envies · envied · envying
envious adjective — Resentfully wanting what another person has.
enviously adverb — With resentful desire for another's advantages.