Green with envy means very envious. It describes strong envy of someone else's luck, new purchase or trip, and people often say it half-jokingly. The idiom sounds lively in IELTS Speaking; in an IELTS essay, write envious instead.
When would you say green with envy?
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be/turn + green with envy; make + someone + green with envy
- When my colleague showed us photos from her trip to Japan, I was green with envy.
- Half the class was green with envy when Anna won a scholarship to study in Canada.
- Their new flat with a view of the river made all their friends green with envy.
What changed
First versionI was green from envy when my brother got tickets to the final.
RevisionI was green with envy when my brother got tickets to the final.
From may seem natural after an emotion, but this idiom has a fixed form with with, like similar phrases about strong feelings: shaking with fear, red with anger. Only from was changed to with.
Envious is a neutral word that also works for mild envy: Some students feel envious of friends who study abroad. Green with envy sounds more vivid and describes a strong feeling. If someone is afraid of losing a partner or loved one to another person, the word is jealous: He gets jealous when his wife talks to other men.
Your turn
Tom had wanted a sports car for years, so when his neighbour bought one, he was ___ and kept wishing it were his.
Show the answer
green with envy — Tom had dreamed of a car like that for years and wished it were his, so he was envious: green with envy. Red with anger describes anger, but Tom was not angry with his neighbour; he just wanted the same car.
Think of a time when you felt very envious of someone you know. Write who it was and what they got or achieved.
I was green with envy when my best friend got a job offer from a company in Singapore.
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