jealous

adjective jeal·ous \ ˈje-ləs \

Definition of jealous

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 :disposed to suspect rivalry or unfaithfulness

a jealous husband

3 :vigilant in guarding a possession

new colonies were jealous of their new independence
—Scott Buchanan

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jealously

adverb

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jealousness

noun

See jealous defined for English-language learners

See jealous defined for kids

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 of jealous from the Web

But to hear the Jealous campaign tell it, Sanders has only become more beloved, and, more influential, in Maryland since his 2016 defeat.

— clare foran, The Atlantic, "Can a Bernie Sanders Ally Win the Maryland Governor's Mansion?," 13 July 2017
At 29 years old, Lesley Murphy was making a living traveling the world, writing about it on her blog The Road Les Traveled, and making her hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers jealous.

— megan friedman, Cosmopolitan, "Bachelor Alum Lesley Murphy Is Sharing Raw Photos of Her Double Mastectomy and Breast Implant Surgery," 5 July 2017
Jealous classmates bullied and taunted Christopher, who responded by taking boxing lessons to learn how to defend himself.

— maria carter, Country Living, "Why the Real Christopher Robin Hated 'Pooh'," 3 July 2017
Getty Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just keeps making us jealous.

— megan friedman, Marie Claire, "Justin Trudeau Marched in Toronto's Pride Parade and It Was Everything You Hoped For," 26 June 2017
The Indians had more seniors on the roster – seven – than in the stands, and Fratianne distinctly recalls being a little jealous of the fan support received by CCD’s opponents.

— mark schmetzer, Cincinnati.com, "Glory Days: 1993 state baseball title a 1st for CCD," 22 June 2017
The story claimed the players who play on the defensive unit were jealous of the offense getting most of the attention, while the performance of the defense is the primary reason for the Seahawks sustained success during recent seasons.

— geoffrey c. arnold, OregonLive.com, "Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman: I did not request a trade," 15 June 2017
When he is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and taken to Egypt, Joseph endures a series of adventures in which his spirit and humanity are continually challenged.

— charlotteobserver, "Happening nearby south Charlotte: June 7-13, 2017," 5 June 2017
The Paris decision is seen as a victory, and a return to White House influence, for chief strategist Steve Bannon, who had been in Trump’s doghouse for the last few weeks because the president was jealous of his rising fame.

— jeet heer, New Republic, "Trump Is Not a Builder. He’s a Destroyer.," 5 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jealous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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.”