jealous

adjective

jeal·​ous ˈje-ləs 

1

: hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage : envious

His success made his old friends jealous.

They were jealous of his success.

2

a

: intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness

… jealous of the slightest interference in household management …

—Havelock Ellis

b

: tending to suspect rivalry or unfaithfulness

a jealous husband

3

: vigilant in guarding a possession

… new colonies were jealous of their new independence.

—Scott Buchanan

jealously adverb

jealousness noun

Usage of Jealous and Envious

Some assert that only envious is correctly used to describe someone who feels or shows a very strong desire for something that belongs to someone else, but in truth both envious and jealous commonly carry this meaning. Jealous alone is used to describe someone who tends to suspect unfaithfulness.

a jealous lover

Did you know?

Zealous vs. Jealous

Zealous and jealous share not just a rhyme, but an etymology. Both words ultimately come from the Latin zelus “jealousy,” and in the past their meanings were somewhat closer to each other than they are today. In the 16th and 17th centuries, zealous occasionally was used in biblical writing to refer to a quality of apprehensiveness or jealousy of another. By the 18th century, however, it had completely diverged in meaning from jealous, signifying “warmly engaged or ardent on behalf of someone or something.” Today, zealous often carries a connotation of excessive feeling: it typically means “fiercely partisan” or “uncompromisingly enthusiastic.”

Synonyms of jealous

• possessive

Examples of jealous in a Sentence

His success has made some of his old friends jealous.

She became very jealous whenever he talked to other women.

He was in a jealous rage.

Recent Examples on the Web

Before Jeremiyah Love has taken an NFL snap, veteran running backs already must be pretty jealous of him. —Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 9 May 2026

The shooter was soon identified as a former physics classmate thought to have been jealous of Loureiro’s success. —Faye Flam, Scientific American, 7 May 2026

Suzanna views the world with a sort of jealous estrangement, refusing to make sense of fundamentals such as death. —James Wood, New Yorker, 4 May 2026

Jack, alone and jealous, watches as parents say goodbye to their children before the fateful plane ride. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 4 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English jelous, from Anglo-French gelus, from Vulgar Latin *zelosus, from Late Latin zelus zeal — more at zeal

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2a

Rhymes for jealous

• bellis
• felis
• fellas
• pelisse
• trellis
• zealous
• michaelis
• nucellus
• ocellus
• overzealous

Kids Definition

jealous

adjective

jeal·​ous ˈjel-əs 

1

: demanding complete devotion

2

: feeling mean resentment toward a rival or competitor

3

: fearful of the loss of a loved one's devotion

4

: watchful, careful

jealously adverb