envy究竟是表示“嫉妒”还是“羡慕”？

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从上面的解释可以看出，envy强调“羡慕并想要拥有其他人有的东西”，这种心态可以是积极的。比如《牛津词典》的一个例句：I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle. 我很羡慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。

而jealousy强调“对其他人拥有的东西感到不开心或者愤怒”，它的意思更加接近于“嫉妒”，比如：He broke his brother's new bike in a fit of jealousy. 他因一时妒忌弄坏了他哥哥的新自行车。

此外，envy还可以作为动词使用，比如：I envy her ability to talk to people she's never met before. 她与人初次见面就能侃侃而谈，这真让我羡慕。

词典网站dictionary.com也提到了这两个单词的核心区别——是否带有负面性：

Although jealousy and envy are sometimes used interchangeably, a distinction is often made relating to the amount of negativity …One distinction that is sometimes made is that jealousy centers its negative focus on the person who has the thing that you don’t, while envy is more centered on the desire for the thing.

除了上面提到的区别，jealousy还有一个独特的单词含义“吃醋，小心提防”，《韦氏高阶英语词典》对此的解释是：

an unhappy or angry feeling caused by the belief that someone you love (such as your husband or wife) likes or is liked by someone else

也就是说，jealousy取该含义时通常涉及到三方：当事人，当事人所爱的对象以及第三者。

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