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Jealousy vs. Envy
Depending on who you ask, jealousy and envy are either exact synonyms, totally different words, or near-synonyms with some degree of semantic overlap and some differences. It is difficult to make the case, based on the evidence of usage that we have, for either of the first two possibilities. Both jealousy and envy are often used to indicate that a person is covetous of something that someone else has, but jealousy carries the particular sense of “zealous vigilance” and tends to be applied more exclusively to feelings of protectiveness regarding one’s own advantages or attachments. In the domain of romance, it is more commonly found than envy. If you were to say “your salt-shaker collection fills me with jealousy,” most people would take it to mean much the same thing as “your salt-shaker collection fills me with envy.” But if someone made a flirtatious comment to your partner, you would likely say that it caused you jealousy, not envy.
Synonyms
Examples of envy in a Sentence
Chad De Guzman, TIME, 6 Nov. 2024
Congratulations may contain a hint of envy, so take them with a grain of salt.
—Essence, 1 Nov. 2024
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2024
Light fell into the atrium from above in a cathedral-like shower, and the first, second, and third-year students were arranged around it on upper floors with the fourth-years in the well, where they could be observed and envied.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 2 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Envy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/envy. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
envy
1 of 2 noun
envy
2 of 2 verb
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