Etymology

unenviable

U1N1E1N1V4I1A1B3L1E1

Today it means: Difficult, undesirable, or unpleasant; not to be envied. Full definition →

English enviable ← Middle English envie ← Old French envie
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Old Frenchenvie
  9. Middle Englishenvie
  10. Englishenvy
  11. Englishenviable
  12. English todayunenviable

From un- + enviable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.