Why is "envy" is considred a sin while "envious" is a rather desirable attribute?
We have two similar words in envy and jealousy. The American Heritage Dic. defines them as below.
jealousy:
- A jealous attitude or disposition.
- Close vigilance.
envy:
n. pl. en·vies
- a. A feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by and in conjunction with desire for the possessions or qualities of another.
b. The object of such feeling: Their new pool made them the envy of their neighbors.- Obsolete Malevolence.
tr.v. en•vied, en•vy•ing, en•vies
- To feel envy toward (another person).
- To regard (something) with envy.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
We also see that envy is considered as one of the 7 deadliest sins:
What it is
Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
Why you do it
Because other people are so much luckier, smarter, more attractive, and better than you.
Your punishment in Hell will be
You'll be put in freezing water.
(http://www.deadlysins.com/envy/)
Now comes the core issue as we glance the definition of envious:
adj. Feeling, expressing, or characterized by envy: "At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way.... He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage" (Stephen Crane).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
It definitely comes out to me at least as a positive feeling. One of healthy competition. Our English teacher used to say, “It is much healthier to be envious than jealous.”
It gives me an impression as if the same word-root "envy" means a highly abominable emotion but when we convert it to "envious" [Adj.] it suddenly acquires a healthy demeanor. It is perplexing, confusing to me. Although I have a feeling that envy is a positive feeling while the feeling of jealousy has a negative overtone.
Being "envious" is not considered positive by English speakers. It means to feel envy and as you know envy is not considered a positive emotion. It has a strong sense of resentment at another's good fortune.
Envy has different connotations, ranging from bad to good. At one extreme, one can be "consumed with envy." At the other extreme, envy can be roughly synonymous with admiration or respect: "Her intelligence and radiant personality made her the envy of her classmates."
Incidentally, I would take that Seven Deadly Sins site with a grain of salt. For example, it lists pride as a deadly sin. While people should certainly strive for humility, is it really wrong to be proud of getting an A on a test? Anger is similarly a mixed bag; I'm proud to hate people who pollute the planet, for example.
There are similarly many great people that I respect, admire and envy, all at the same time.
From Wikipedia, Envy: "Psychologists have recently suggested that there may be two types of envy: malicious envy and benign envy—benign envy being proposed as a type of positive motivational force."