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WORD DETAIL

羨望

せんぼう

N1envy

Examples

自由に旅を続ける友人に羨望の念を抱いた。

彼女の優れた技術は若い職人たちの羨望を集めた。

Included kanji

Study notes

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

  • Structure: 羨望, read せんぼう, means envy of another person's ability or circumstances.
  • Basic usage: It expresses envy of something such as another person's freedom or outstanding skill.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

  • The person feeling envy and its object
    • 友人に羨望の念を抱いた means feeling envy toward a friend.
    • In 技術は若い職人たちの羨望を集めた, the outstanding skill attracted the envy of young artisans.
  • Praise and envy
    • 称賛 focuses on praising excellence, while 羨望 focuses on wishing to have a similar advantage oneself. A positive appraisal alone does not make them equivalent.

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