enviable
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does enviable mean? Enviable means very desirable. It’s especially used to describe things that a person has and that other people want—or a person that other people want to be like.In other words, enviable means worthy of or likely to cause envy—a feeling of desire for something that someone else has and you do not. Envy is also a verb meaning to have feelings of envy toward someone, and enviable is formed from this verb.Envy is not a good feeling—it can be described as a mix of admiration and discontent. Enviable is often used to describe things that are so good that other people will naturally want them (and might even get a little envious or jealous).The opposite of enviable is unenviable, which is typically used to describe tasks or positions that no one wants, as in He was given the unenviable task of making sure everyone paid on time. Example: It’s an enviable position, with a lot of perks, so naturally we have many applicants.
Other Word Forms
- enviableness noun
- enviably adverb
- nonenviable adjective
- nonenviableness noun
- nonenviably adverb
- unenviable adjective
- unenviably adverb
Etymology
Origin of enviable
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.
America’s enviable salaries and stock gains powered by the U.S. economy allow a new class of students, remote workers and retirees to finance a second chapter abroad.
More citizens are replanting overseas, drawn by a quality of life made easily affordable by the U.S.’s enviable salaries.
He argues that these hard-hit software companies have enviable mature businesses, with thousands of enterprise customers and contracts stretching over years.
From MarketWatch
He had put together an enviable sponsorship portfolio of boundless resources, including the full financial might of the state of Saudi Arabia, through its national oil company.
From BBC
Sony found itself in the difficult position of not being able to say no, and Rogen found himself in the enviable position of getting approval for almost anything that he chose to present.
Definitions 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.
