envious

envious, jealous, though not close synonyms, are comparable because both carry as their basic meaning that of grudging another's possession of something desirable.

Envious stresses a coveting of something (as riches, possessions, or attainments) which belongs to another or of something (as success or good fortune) which has come to another. It may imply either a gnawing, often a malicious, desire to deprive one of what gives him gratification, or a spiteful delight in his dispossession or loss of it

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still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, to silence envious tongues— Shak.

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some envious hand has sprinkled ashes just to spoil our slide— Field

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Frequently, however, the stress is on coveting rather than on a desire to injure

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we are all envious of your good fortune

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tried to look disappointed and angry but . . . only succeeded in looking envious— Hervey Allen

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Jealous often stresses intolerance of a rival for the possession of a thing which one regards as peculiarly one's own or on the winning of which one has set one's heart, but sometimes it merely implies intensely zealous efforts to keep or maintain what one possesses. The term often is used without derogation

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thou shalt have no other gods before me ... for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God— Exod 20:3-5

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proud of their calling, conscious of their duty, and jealous of their honor— Galsworthy

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However the term usually carries a strong implication of distrust, suspicion, enviousness, or sometimes anger

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a jealous wife

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he was jealous of Carson's fame as an Indian fighter— Gather

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stabbed by a jealous lover

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Analogous words: *covetous, grasping, greedy: grudging, coveting, envying (see COVET): malign, malignant, spiteful, Malicious, malevolent

Contrasted words: generous, *liberal, bountiful, openhanded: kindly, *kind, benign, benignant