as in jealousy
a painful awareness of another's possessions or advantages and a desire to have them too
their envy of their neighbor's fancy home threatened to wreck their friendship
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to resent
to have a resentful awareness of and desire for (another's possessions or advantages) or to feel resentment toward (someone) over possessions or advantages
her coworkers envied her chummy relationship with the senior vice president they envied him because he didn't have to work for a living
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of envy
Dade Hayes, Deadline, 24 Mar. 2026
The city protected a public lakefront that remains the envy of cities around the world.
—Tonika Lewis Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
On the other side of town, the Los Angeles Dodgers have become the franchise envied by fans and teams alike given their massive spending spree and utilizing deferred money to field an All-Star roster that continues to get better by the year.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for envy
Noun
Epic, which is privately held, became the envy of the media landscape when Fortnite launched in 2017.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 24 Mar. 2026
The city protected a public lakefront that remains the envy of cities around the world.
—Tonika Lewis Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
Verb
Pierson walks me through the kind of workplace you’re supposed to envy.
—Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
On the other side of town, the Los Angeles Dodgers have become the franchise envied by fans and teams alike given their massive spending spree and utilizing deferred money to field an All-Star roster that continues to get better by the year.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for envy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for envy
Noun
-
Be careful not to let someone else manipulate you or use guilt or jealousy as a technique.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
3 Apr. 2026
-
But his urge to steal wasn’t rooted in jealousy.—
Ryan Brennan,
Charlotte Observer,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Readers may resent being abstracted into algebra, but they are nonetheless invited to sort themselves into one of four categories on the basis of a short quiz.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the TSA division of the American Federation of Government Employees, said union members resent having their livelihoods used as tools and talking points in a game of political brinkmanship.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
What was disturbing were people who sped past a foot away from elderly people, shouting obscenities with faces twisted in hatred.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Këkht Aräkh is not unique in his loneliness; the pain of being alone is as thematically central to DSBM as the hatred of Christianity.—
Sadie Sartini Garner,
Pitchfork,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Maybe the mere fact of having been born illustrious, with no apparent faults, with nothing to prove or to be ashamed of, had liberated John from the resentments the rest of us feel, and from the cunning and ambition such resentments fuel.—
Jeffrey Eugenides,
New Yorker,
4 Apr. 2026
-
What would be stupid is mandating the creation of a permanent underclass, driving the resentment and parallel societies that plagued Germany — and doing so in defiance of the Constitution.—
Agustina Vergara Cid,
Oc Register,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Envy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/envy. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
