“The gap between romantic expectation and mundane reality, frankly, never ceases to amaze with this team. France, somehow, get better, on paper, with every tournament. Talent keeps coming through at a relentless, invidious [ɪnˈvɪdiəs] rate.” — James Horncastle, The New York Times, 16 June 2026

invidious
adj [ɪnˈvɪdiəs]

formal word used to describe things that are unpleasant and likely to cause bad feelings in other people. Such bad feelings may include resentment, discontent, animosity, or envy.

If invidious reminds you of the word insidious (“gradually or subtly causing harm”) ...both words from Latin. The two are otherwise unrelated; insidious comes from Latin insidiae, “ambush,” while invidious is instead a relative of envy and comes from the verb invidēre...

English