ambition vs envy

ambition

noun
  • An object of an ardent desire. 

  • Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people. 

  • A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal. 

  • A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things. 

verb
  • To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet. 

envy

noun
  • Resentful desire of something possessed by another or others (but not limited to material possessions). 

  • An object of envious notice or feeling. 

verb
  • To feel displeasure or hatred towards (someone) for their good fortune or possessions. 

  • To resentfully or discontentedly desire (something someone else has that one lacks). 

How often have the words ambition and envy occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )