ENVY | Meaning In The Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of envy in English envyverb [ T ] uk /ˈen.vi/ us /ˈen.vi/ Add to word list Add to word list B2 to wish that you had something that another person has: I envy her ability to talk to people she's never met before. [ + two objects ] I don't envy you the job of cooking for all those people.

• Some of his colleagues envy the enormous wealth that he has amassed.
• Her luxurious lifestyle and personal ostentation were both hated and envied.
• I don't envy him his heavy workload.
• The man in the story starts to envy his friend's single lifestyle.
• She had always envied her sister's thick glossy hair and long willowy legs.

Envy and jealousy

• all right
• be green with envy idiom
• covet
• covetable
• covetous
• covetously
• enviable
• enviably
• envious
• enviously
• enviousness
• green
• grudge
• jealous
• jealous of someone/something
• jealously
• jealousy
• possessive
• threatened

See more results » envynoun [ U ] uk /ˈen.vi/ us /ˈen.vi/ B2 the feeling that you wish you had something that someone else has: I watched with envy as she set off for the airport. Compare jealousy  be the envy of someone C2 to be liked and wanted by a lot of people: Her hair is the envy of the office. See more  hair, food, phone, etc. envy informal often humorous used after another noun to say that you wish you had a particular thing that another person has: She looks so cute with short hair, now I have hair envy. My husband had the gnocchi as his main course and it gave me some serious food envy. Prepare yourself for major phone envy when you see this new device. Watching the programme, I was too busy having kitchen envy to follow the recipes. These shows tap into the phenomenon of high-end property envy.

• Envy is one of the seven deadly sins.
• She felt a stab of envy when she saw all the expensive presents Zoe had been given for Christmas.
• She felt a faint stirring of envy when she heard that one of her colleagues had been promoted.
• Ben's heading off to Spain for the week and I'm green with envy.
• She felt a wave of envy towards her friend, on seeing how happy she was.

Envy and jealousy

• all right
• be green with envy idiom
• covet
• covetable
• covetous
• covetously
• enviable
• enviably
• envious
• enviously
• enviousness
• green
• grudge
• jealous
• jealous of someone/something
• jealously
• jealousy
• possessive
• threatened

See more results » (Definition of envy from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

envy | American Dictionary

envyverb [ T ] us /ˈen·vi/ Add to word list Add to word list to wish that you had a quality or possession that another person has: I envy people so much who feel carefree. envynoun [ U ] us /ˈen·vi/ the feeling that you wish you had something that someone else has: His new car is the envy of (= liked and wanted by) all his friends. (Definition of envy from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of envy

envy Neither envy nor misfortune creeps into our peaceful valley; our cares are our work. From the Cambridge English Corpus In contemporary society, there are strong social norms against such envy. From the Cambridge English Corpus The suffering of grief, envy, and anxiety, for example, do not relate to the nervous system. From the Cambridge English Corpus Because dealing with fair-share complaints is lexically prior to dealing with envy complaints, the mean plays an absolutely pivotal role. From the Cambridge English Corpus He then goes on and adopts the equal-split auction as an ideal mechanism which guarantees that the resulting allocation is envy-free. From the Cambridge English Corpus Then the above specification of envy-freeness is not applicable because the two are unequally entitled to the inheritance. From the Cambridge English Corpus We happen to believe that both destructive envy and conflicting wishes for separateness and union are important ideas for understanding mental distress. From the Cambridge English Corpus The little girl envied the princess with the maid who was eating chocolates. From the Cambridge English Corpus Christians are martyred to satiate the mob's class envy, economic, and social dissatisfaction, even desire for yet further sensational entertainments. From the Cambridge English Corpus In an attempt to better differentiate jealousy from envy in children, investigators devised two different situations within a social triad to distinctly elicit jealousy. From the Cambridge English Corpus He seems unaware that envy might trigger other emotions. From the Cambridge English Corpus This might cause me to envy you + a belief together with a relevant desire triggers an emotion. From the Cambridge English Corpus There are some cases in which, undeniably, a talented person would envy a less talented one. From the Cambridge English Corpus It is the envy of many other countries that wish that they could establish a similar practice in their own schools. From the Cambridge English Corpus For example, we need to look at how many people of either group envy other people, and how much ground there is for their envy. From the Cambridge English Corpus These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of envy?

Translations of envy

in Chinese (Traditional) 羡慕, 忌妒… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 羡慕, 忌妒… See more in Spanish envidiar, envidia, envidia [feminine]… See more in Portuguese invejar, ter inveja de, inveja… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian हेवा वाटणे - दुसऱ्या व्यक्तीकडे असलेले आपल्याकडे असण्याची इच्छा असणे., हेवा, मत्सर - इतर कुणाकडे असलेले आपल्याकडे असण्याची इच्छा… See more うらやましさ, （人）をうらやむ, うらやましく思（おも）う… See more kıskançlık, gıpta, imrenme… See more envier, envie [feminine], jalousie [feminine]… See more enveja, envejar… See more afgunst, benijden, jaloers zijn op… See more வேறொரு நபரிடம் உங்களிடம் ஏதாவது இருக்க வேண்டும் என்று விரும்புவது, வேறொருவர் வைத்திருக்கும் ஒன்றை நீங்கள் விரும்புகிறீர்கள் என்ற உணர்வு… See more ईर्ष्या, डाह करना, डाह… See more ઈર્ષ્યા કરવી, ઈર્ષ્યા… See more misundelse, misunde… See more avund, avundsjuka, vara avundsjuk på… See more berasa iri hati, iri hati… See more der Neid, beneiden um… See more misunne, misunnelse [masculine], misunnelse… See more حسد ہونا, جلن ہونا, رشک ہونا… See more заздрість, об'єкт заздрощів, заздрити (комусь)… See more అసూయ, అసూహ ఉండటం… See more ঈর্ষা, অন্য ব্যক্তির কাছে যা আছে তা পাবার ইচ্ছা, অন্য কারোর যা আছে তা চাওয়া… See more závist, závidět… See more iri hati, merasa iri, mengirikan… See more ความอิจฉา, อิจฉา… See more sự thèm muốn, thèm muốn, cảm thấy thèm muốn… See more zazdrość, zazdrościć, zawiść… See more 부러움, 부러워하다… See more invidia, invidiare… See more Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool

Browse

envisaged envisaging envision envoy envy envying envyingly enzootic enzymatic {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of envy

• be the envy of someone phrase
• green with envy idiom
• be green with envy idiom

See all meanings

• be the envy of someone phrase
• green with envy idiom
• be green with envy idiom

See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

exuberantly

UK /ɪɡˈzjuː.bər.ənt.li/ US /ɪɡˈzuː.bɚ.ənt.li/

in a very energetic and enthusiastic way

About this

Blog

Red-hot and roasting: words for describing things that are hot.

December 24, 2025 Read More

New Words

frost-jacking December 29, 2026 More new words has been added to list To top AI Assistant Contents EnglishAmericanExamplesTranslations AI Assistant {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

AI Assistant Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Translate Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games {{userName}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

Log in / Sign up English (UK) Change English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Follow us Choose a dictionary

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• Translation Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries
  • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
  • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
  • English–Danish Danish–English
  • English–Dutch Dutch–English
  • English–French French–English
  • English–German German–English
  • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
  • English–Italian Italian–English
  • English–Japanese Japanese–English
  • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
  • English–Polish Polish–English
  • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
  • English–Spanish Spanish–English
  • English–Swedish Swedish–English
  Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists

Choose your language English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Contents

• English   Verb
  • Noun 
    • envy
    • be the envy of someone
    • hair, food, phone, etc. envy
• American   VerbNoun
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

My word lists

To add envy to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in My word lists

Add envy to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{name}} More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}}