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.
2a : intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness jealous of the slightest interference in household management — Havelock Ellisb : 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
jealously
adverbjealousness
nounIndulge Your Inner Word Nerd
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
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The jealous co-stars, frustrated crew and conniving producers are all suspects!
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Only these kids threw their homework, English papers and other schoolwork away, down a school stairwell, creating a blizzard of paper that left people on Twitter very jealous.
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Jealous lives in Pasadena, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County.
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Opening statements are set for Wednesday morning in the retrial of Donna Horwitz, a South Florida woman accused of killing her ex-husband in a jealous rage.
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They are embellished with enough shiny sequins, faux fur, chiffon and gold lamé to make even the Supremes jealous.
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Her husband was a jealous man and was often suspicious that other men had interest in her.
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Instagram is great for posting pics from your fabulous getaway that are almost certain to make your friends jealous.
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A boyfriend’s jealous tendencies lead to romantic doom.
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.”
Origin and Etymology of jealous
Middle English jelous, from Anglo-French gelus, from Vulgar Latin *zelosus, from Late Latin zelus zeal — more at zeal
JEALOUS Defined for Kids
Learn More about jealous
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See words that rhyme with jealous Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for jealous Spanish Central: Translation of jealous Nglish: Translation of jealous for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of jealous for Arabic speakers
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