envious
adj/ˈɛnviːəs/
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.
1
Feeling or exhibiting envy; jealously desiring the excellence or good fortune of another; maliciously grudging.
- an envious man, disposition, or attack; envious tongues
- Fret not thy ſelfe becauſe of euill doers, neither bee thou enuious againſt the workers of iniquitie.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 37:1:
1 more example
- My soul is envious of mine eye.1827, [John Keble], The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
2
Excessively careful; cautious.
- for no man was ever so amorous, as to love a toad; none so envious, as to repine at the condition of the miserable1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
3
Obsolete Malignant; mischievous; spiteful.
- Each envious brier his weary legs doth scratch.1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC:
- He to him leapt, and that same envious gage / Of victors glory from him snatcht away.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 39:
- Synonyms
- overcautious
- Derived terms
- enviously, enviousness, nonenvious, unenvious
- Related terms
- jealous