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Definition of envy verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

envy

verb
 
/ˈenvi/
 
/ˈenvi/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they envy
 
/ˈenvi/
 
/ˈenvi/
he / she / it envies
 
/ˈenviz/
 
/ˈenviz/
past simple envied
 
/ˈenvid/
 
/ˈenvid/
past participle envied
 
/ˈenvid/
 
/ˈenvid/
-ing form envying
 
/ˈenviɪŋ/
 
/ˈenviɪŋ/
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  1. to wish you had the same qualities, possessions, opportunities, etc. as somebody else
    • envy somebody He envied her—she seemed to have everything she could possibly want.
    • envy something She has always envied my success.
    • envy somebody (for) something I envied him his good looks.
    • I secretly envied her for her good looks.
    • envy somebody doing something I envy you having such a close family.
    Topics Feelingsc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • greatly
    • really
    • secretly
    preposition
    • for
    See full entry
  2. to be glad that you do not have to do what somebody else has to do
    • not envy somebody It's a difficult situation you're in. I don't envy you.
    • not envy somebody something I don't envy her that job.
  3. Word OriginMiddle English (also in the sense ‘hostility, enmity’): from Old French envie (noun), envier (verb), from Latin invidia, from invidere ‘regard maliciously, grudge’, from in- ‘into’ + videre ‘to see’.
See envy in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
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B1
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