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Jealousy vs. Envy
Depending on who you ask, jealousy and envy are either exact synonyms, totally different words, or near-synonyms with some degree of semantic overlap and some differences. It is difficult to make the case, based on the evidence of usage that we have, for either of the first two possibilities. Both jealousy and envy are often used to indicate that a person is covetous of something that someone else has, but jealousy carries the particular sense of “zealous vigilance” and tends to be applied more exclusively to feelings of protectiveness regarding one’s own advantages or attachments. In the domain of romance, it is more commonly found than envy. If you were to say “your salt-shaker collection fills me with jealousy,” most people would take it to mean much the same thing as “your salt-shaker collection fills me with envy.” But if someone made a flirtatious comment to your partner, you would likely say that it caused you jealousy, not envy.
Examples of jealousy in a Sentence
Valerie Mesa, People.com, 1 Aug. 2025
His eyes gleamed, without a single speck of jealousy.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 29 July 2025
The show wouldn’t work if employees were breaking up operations out of spite and jealousy, so Platt told Butler that his employee had been sabotaging the show.
—Jake Kring-Schreifels, Time, 22 July 2025
The logjam created by Markey refusing to step aside is causing consternation in the delegation, long plagued by internal divisions and jealousies.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for jealousy
Cite this Entry
“Jealousy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jealousy. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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jealousy
noun
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