Enviably

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner that makes others wish they had the same thing, quality, or fortune as the person described
2. So as to provoke envy in onlookers because of something desirable or fortunate
3. Characterized by a state that others would covet, appearing highly fortunate or admirable

Etymology: "Enviably" is an adverb built in the simplest way: the adjective "enviable" with the suffix "-ly" attached. The adjective itself is "enviable" plus the suffix "-able," which comes from Latin "-ābilis," meaning capable of being or deserving to be what the base describes. "Envy" ultimately descends through Old French and Latin, so the word carries a chain of borrowings behind it, but the most useful way to see it is as an English suffix doing its work on an English base. The "-ly" ending goes back to Old English "-līċe," a relative of the word "like" in the sense of "in the manner of." That is why "-ly" forms adverbs: a quality described "in the manner of" something becomes a way of doing something. "Enviably" therefore means "in a manner that deserves envy," as in someone who handles a crisis enviably well.

Synonyms: desirably

Antonyms: unenviably