Thursday, September 15, 2011

invidious



invidious [ɪnˈvɪdiəs] a.

1.) Of a charge, complaint, report, etc.: tending or fitted to excite odium, unpopularity, or ill feeling against some one. Now rare.
2.) Of an action, duty, topic, etc.: entailing odium or ill will upon the person performing, discharging, discussing, etc.; giving offence to others.
3.) Of a comparison or distinction: offensively discriminating.
4.) Of a thing: fitted to excite ill feeling or envy against the possessor.
5.) That looks with an evil eye; envious, grudging, jealous. Now rare.
6.) Viewed with ill will or dislike; odious to a person. Obs. rare (O.E.D. 2nd Ed.).

Etymology: From Latin invidiosus, envious, hostile, from invidia, envy.

"I felt particular interest in watching the combustion of American authors, and scrupulously noted by my watch the precise number of moments that changed most of them from shabbily printed books to indistinguishable ashes. It would be invidious, however, if not perilous, to betray these awful secrets; so that I shall content myself with observing that it was not invariably the writer most frequent in the public mouth that made the most splendid appearance in the bonfire" ("Earth's Holocaust" in Mosses from an Old Manse, Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1846).

(De goudweger en zijn vrouw, Quentin Massys, 1514)

20 comments:

D4 said...

A lot of rarity with this one.. Too much? The other ones are acceptable but a lot of the 'rare' usage is still pretty easy to use.

mamtc said...

Love this word. Thanks for sharing.

Melanie said...

How I would love an opportunity to use this word!

Unknown said...

So this is the origin of the company name nvidia®

Mai Yang said...

oh yeah. I know this word. I used it once :D

Shaw said...

How do you get the picture to enlarge like that?

Unknown said...

I use this word often in Italian: Ti invidio, which means...I'm jealous (of you) :)

Jenny Woolf said...

It's always seemed to me that "invidious" has overtones of "sly" - the spiteful little observation, etc. etc.

themajessty said...

I KNOW THIS ONE TOO.

Yay.

Sick by Trend said...

hey Mr sorry! I just read your question about your new shoes! They are fab, well done but the most important is if you like them :D

xx

www.sickbytrend.com

Have a great weekend!! :)

sBt

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Hahahahaha, -E-, was it invidious of me to call you kinky?

shari said...

Almost insidious to be invidious... am I right? Or am I way off base here?

MRanthrope said...

I love it when my female coworker fight and get all catty with each other, one always gives invidious ("that looks with an evil eye") looks that would break a lesser a person. It's awesome fun.

Unknown said...

Wow, this word has lost a lot of it's meaning hasn't it?

Jodie-Ann Muckler said...

Love this! Thankssss!!!!

Unknown said...

The word in this form is rare. The word died, but the meaning lives on in other terms. And unfortunately it is that part of the human experience that is being elevated in the modern world. I've been monitering this page for several weeks and I must say, it is one of the finest I have come across.
Thank you
Anne

DEZMOND said...

love the painting!

Anonymous said...

Almost the same in spanish: envidioso.

Unknown said...

Another word I haven't heard. This is good though.

I quite like the painting as well.

Anonymous said...

What, was Circe Invidiosa not high-brow enough? ;P

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