green with envy

Idioms & Phrases

green with envy

Full of desire for someone's possessions or advantages; extremely covetous. For example, Her fur coat makes me green with envy. Shakespeare described envy as the green sickness (Anthony and Cleopatra, 3:2), but the current phrase, dating from the mid-1800s, is the one most often heard. Also see green-eyed monster.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature