A question regarding the explanation for 「羨ましい」 in the Daijirin and Daijisen


The entry for 「羨ましい」in the Daijisen (at least the version found on Kotobank)
is

「他人の能力や状態をみて、自分もそうありたいと願うさま。また、他人をねたましく思うさま。」

and in the Daijirin is

「うらやむ気持ちをそそられるさま。人が恵まれていたり、物事が優れていたりするのを見て、自分もそのようになりたいと思うさま。」

As far as I know,「羨ましい」means both "envious" and "enviable". However, to me,
both of these entries do not seem to suggest the second meaning. Am I right in
thinking this? Do these entries suggest the second meaning to you? If so, how?

Thanks for any help.




As for the usage of うらやましい, it can safely modify an inanimate object. うらやましい能力
means "enviable ability", for example.

I think this statement of Daijirin may correspond to "enviable".

> うらやむ気持ちをそそられるさま。

This is a bit ambiguous, but it can mean both "state/look by which one's
feeling of envy is induced" (i.e., a quality of a thing; enviable) and "a
state/situation in which one's feeling of envy is induced" (i.e., a feeling of
a person; envious).

