invidious
/ɪnˈvɪdi.əs/adjective
invidious is spelled I-N-V-I-D-I-O-U-S: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 85,266th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, invidious means “Causing ill will, envy, or offense” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in invidious?
| Letters | 9: I-N-V-I-D-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 85,266th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is invidious?
Invidious appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 85,266th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce invidious?
- /ɪnˈvɪdi.əs/
Invidious has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-invidious.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of invidious
- more invidious comparative
- most invidious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does invidious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Causing ill will, envy, or offense.
- 2
Offensively or unfairly discriminating.
- 3
obsoleteEnvious, jealous.
- 4
Detestable, hateful, or odious. (Often used in cases of perceived unfairness, or when facing a difficult situation or choice – especially in the phrase invidious position.)
The sales representative was in an invidious position: she could either get to the meeting on time but with nothing to show the client, or pick up the product samples while the client was kept waiting. Neither one would make a favourable im
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Invidious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense archaic/obsolete: envious, jealous:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | invidioso (disused), ínvido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does invidious come from?
Borrowed from Latin invidiōsus, from invidia (“envy, ill will”), from in- (“upon”) + videō (“to see”); the meaning developed from “look back at” to “look askance at” to “envy.” Doublet of envious, from Old French.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).