Beautiful woman Ethel envied? Just a bit (5)
I believe the answer is:
helen
'beautiful woman' is the definition.
(Helen of Troy in Greek myth)
'ethel envied? just a bit' is the wordplay.
'just a bit' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'HELEN' is hidden within 'ethel envied'.
(Other definitions for helen that I've seen before include "Famous classical beauty" , "Woman abducted to Troy" , "The Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back" , "femme fatale" , "Ship launcher" .)