# What does ‘green with envy’ mean?

To “green with envy” means to extremely jealous. Brewer's traces the colour association to Shakespeare's Othello (III.iii): 'the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.'

## What it means

- Brewer's traces the colour association to Shakespeare's Othello (III.iii): 'the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.'

## Action steps

1. Common in casual speech about jealousy.
2. Example: When she got the promotion, he was green with envy.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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