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
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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
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Recent Examples of envy
Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 26 Dec. 2025
Little did anyone know at the time, but that respectable profit margin would soon become the envy of most comedies that were released in subsequent years.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 25 Dec. 2025
Maryna Holovnova, New Atlas, 4 Nov. 2025
Compare your inside with other people’s outside, envying others’ success without having a full picture of their lives.
—Big Think, 9 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for envy
Noun
With exaggerated lines and a cushy fill that had an almost Pillsbury-esque texture (in the best way), the dumpling-like chair evoked both envy and admiration from our fellow Condé Nast staffers.
—Verb
Years of waiting could soon be over for Windows users who’ve long envied Apple’s Magic Trackpad.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for envy
Noun
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When Mike sees Holly (Nell Fisher) take over his D&D table, his instinctual protectiveness, even jealousy, soon fades to pride.—
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Other witnesses also allegedly told police that the hit-and-run was intentional and claimed that it was motivated by jealousy, per Brazilian outlet UOL.—
Verb
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Many Iranians, including those sympathetic to Palestinian rights, resent being conscripted into conflicts that are not their own.—
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Vedrenne worried that at least some of the Clooneys’ French countrymen would resent what looked like special treatment.—
Noun
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Some viewers will know Rapaport from his decadeslong acting career but also that one very irritating season of Justified; others will know him for his anti-Palestinian rants and hatred of New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani.—
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This is not to say that rape can be separated from the hatred of women, just that, in certain situations, the role of the victim can be violently reassigned.—
Noun
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And the government’s insistence that Iranians must make sacrifices for distant causes breeds resentment rather than unity.—
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Juggling careers and kids takes a toll on families, and housework often is fraught with resentments over who is doing it.—
Cite this Entry
“Envy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/envy. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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