invidious
Americanadjective
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calculated to create ill will or resentment or give offense; hateful.
invidious remarks.
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offensively or unfairly discriminating; injurious.
invidious comparisons.
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causing or tending to cause animosity, resentment, or envy.
an invidious honor.
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Obsolete. envious.
adjective
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incurring or tending to arouse resentment, unpopularity, etc
an invidious task
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(of comparisons or distinctions) unfairly or offensively discriminating
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obsolete grudging; envious
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of invidious
1600–10; < Latin invidiōsus envious, envied, hateful, equivalent to invidi ( a ) envy + -ōsus -ous
Explanation
Something can be described as invidious when it is resentful, discriminatory or envious, as in: "Fred was angered by the invidious gossip about his divorce being spread by his ex-wife's allies." The adjective invidious is used to describe an act, thought, opinion or critique that is full of ill will or prejudice. It comes from a Latin word that means "hostile." When the captain of a cheerleading squad says nasty things about an opposing cheer team's skills, work ethic, and uniforms, those are invidious comments.
Vocabulary lists containing invidious
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Common Senses: Vid, Vis ("See")
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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.
The answer has to do with Porsche’s ladder of invidious comparison.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
But Tuesday’s decision is not rooted in the VRA; it is, rather, based on the simple principle that the Constitution does not permit invidious racial discrimination in congressional elections.
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2025
His office also told the BBC "it was an invidious situation that Stephen Cottrell lived with every day that he was Bishop of Chelmsford until he was able to take action."
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2025
Schools create stress over academic performance, pressure students to fit into normative gender roles, force invidious social comparisons on children, and conjure up feelings of failure and shame and humiliation over academic failure.
From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2023
Like invidious doctors, they knew just where it hurt.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
