invidious

English

WOTD – 11 July 2007

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin invidiōsus, from invidia (“envy, ill will”), from in- (“upon”) + videō (“I see”); the meaning developed from “look back at” to “look askance at” to “envy.” Doublet of envious, from Old French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɪdi.əs/
• (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪdiəs

Adjective

invidious (comparative more invidious, superlative most invidious)

1. Causing ill will, envy, or offense.
   • 1753 August 14, Samuel Johnson [et al.], “Number LXXXI. TUESDAY, August 14, 1753.”, in The Adventurer, volume II, London: […] J[ohn] Payne, […], published 1754, →OCLC, page 62:

     To think highly of ourselves in comparison with others, to assume by our own authority that precedence which none is willing to grant, must be always invidious and offensive; […]

   • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, chapter XXXII, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

     ‘I didn’t make use of the word in any invidious sense, ma’am,’ replied Mr. Benjamin Allen, growing somewhat uneasy on his own account.

   • 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC:

     […] when the interposing barriers of earth and time, and a sense that the events had been somewhat shut into oblivion, would deaden the sting that revelation and invidious remark would have for Bathsheba just now.

   • 1875 January–December, Henry James, Jr., Roderick Hudson, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1876, →OCLC; republished as Roderick Hudson (EBook #176), U.S.A.: Project Gutenberg, 18 September 2016:

     He lingered on the bridges at sunset, and knew that the light was enchanting and the mountains divine, but there seemed to be something horribly invidious and unwelcome in the fact.

   • 1951, Winston Churchill, Closing the Ring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 339:

     I should be very reluctant, as head of His Majesty's Government, to place such an invidious responsibility upon a British officer.

2. (of a distinction) Offensively or unfairly discriminating.
   • 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:

     But the rich man—not to make any invidious comparison—is always sold to the institution which makes him rich.

   • 1913 August, Jack London, chapter XVII, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC:

     There were so many drinks to be drunk, and as the warm magic poured through our veins and mellowed our voices and affections we knew it was no time to make invidious distinctions—to drink with this shipmate and to decline to drink with that shipmate.

3. (obsolete) Envious, jealous.
4. Detestable, hateful, or odious. (Often used in cases of perceived unfairness, or when facing a difficult situation or choice — especially in the phrase invidious position.)

   The sales representative was in an invidious position: she could either get to the meeting on time but with nothing to show the client, or pick up the product samples while the client was kept waiting. Neither one would make a favourable impression!

Related terms

• invidiously
• invidiousness

Translations

offensively or unfairly discriminating

• Bulgarian: несправедлив (bg) (nespravedliv)
• Dutch: discriminerend (nl)
• Greek: επαχθής (el) m (epachthís), απεχθής (el) m (apechthís), μισητός (el) m (misitós), αντιπαθής (el) m or f (antipathís)
• Russian: возмути́тельный (ru) (vozmutítelʹnyj) (outrageous), несправедли́вый (ru) (nespravedlívyj) (unfair), пристра́стный (ru) (pristrástnyj) (biased)

causing ill will towards the actor; causing offense

• Bulgarian: враждебен (bg) (vraždeben), ненавистен (bg) (nenavisten)
• Dutch: kwetsend (nl)

causing envy or ill will towards the possessor

• Bulgarian: предизвикващ завист (predizvikvašt zavist)
• Dutch: afgunstig (nl)

archaic/obsolete: envious, jealous

• Greek: φθονερός (el) m (fthonerós)
• Latin: invidiosus
• Russian: зави́стливый (ru) (zavístlivyj) (envious), ревни́вый (ru) (revnívyj) (jealous)

archaic/obsolete: detestable; hateful; odious

• Greek: μισητός (el) m (misitós), απεχθής (el) m (apechthís), αποκρουστικός (el) m (apokroustikós)
• Russian: омерзи́тельный (ru) (omerzítelʹnyj) (repulsive), ненави́стный (ru) (nenavístnyj) (hateful)

See also

• indignation

References

• “invidious”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “invidious”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.