Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

If your social-worker friend envies your designer clothes, you don’t have to ditch your Prada for rags, but it’s probably better not to festoon your outfit with your biggest diamond.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

“Here is a woman who has never been particularly jealous of any other woman, realizing that she deeply envies this chair,” the film’s narrator, voiced by Melanie Griffith, says.

From Salon • Feb. 18, 2026

Tara jokes about Nick’s obvious infatuation with Charlie, and Charlie admits he envies Darcy and Tara for being out as a couple.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 11, 2023

All of that drawing the kind of attention every other sport envies.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 14, 2022

He envies her students suddenly, seeing her without fail, three times a week, pictures them gathered together around a table, staring at her continuously as she writes on the board.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri