Difference between "urayamashii" and "netamashii" for "jealous"?


I'm completely familiar with "urayamashii" to mean "jealous". But in Yakuza
Judgement, I heard the term "netamashii" used instead. The context was that
the prominent lawyer A was talking about how B's friend was gaining
fame/credit, and so maybe that's why B murdered his friend, because B was
"jealous" ("お前、それが妬ましかったんじゃないか？")

Is there anything to be said about the connotation of "netamashii", as opposed
to "urayamashii"? Is it just a more esoteric term that self-important people
might use? If you can give any similar english equivalent, that would be
helpful.




First of all, both Urayamashii and Netamashii are more like envious than
jealous. If you want something that another person already has, you are
envious.

In any case, Netamashii is negative and Urayamashii is positive. You can say
to your friend that you feel urayamashii toward her/him for his/her gorgeous
house, for example. That statement acts as a praise to her/him.

On the other hand, you feel Netamashii toward a person whom you dislike. You
can say Netamashii to your friend only as a joke. In such a case, your friend
will regard your Netamashii as synonymous with Urayamashii.

