jealous

adjective jeal·ous \ ˈje-ləs \

Updated on: 18 May 2018

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

The fact that the siblings have already bonded may be a relief for Kate, who had been concerned that George and Charlotte might feel jealous with a new arrival taking up her attention.

— katie nicholl, Vanities, "Princess Charlotte Kisses Prince Louis In New Photographs by Kate Middleton," 5 May 2018
The actress also jokes that her son was jealous of the craft services on set Come back every weekday at 8:30 a.m. EST to watch People Now streaming live from the Meredith offices in New York City, and rebroadcast at 11:30 a.m. EST.

— people staff, PEOPLE.com, "Malin Akerman Says Fiancé Is ‘A Natural’ Around Her Son Sebastian: ‘I Hit the Jackpot’," 13 Apr. 2018
Victor Salerno, Sandoval's attorney, told jurors that the woman had been in a relationship with Sandoval and was jealous of the teenager.

— marisa gerber, latimes.com, "Jury deadlocks on most charges in case of reputed MS-13 gang members accused in 2001 kidnapping, homicide," 29 Mar. 2018
All her life, Nancy was jealous of Diana, partly for her beauty but more for the indomitable and rare self-control that enabled Diana to remain sphinx-like, serene and supremely herself no matter what befell her.

— laura thompson, New York Times, "In a New Biography of the Bouvier Women, Jealousies Rule," 20 Feb. 2018
Wyatt sees this and spends basically the whole episode being jealous and possessive.

— rachel kaufman, Smithsonian, "An Elementary Lesson in Women’s Suffrage: “Timeless” Season 2, Episode 7, Recapped," 30 Apr. 2018
Brian Mackey’s fearless exuberance as the jealous, ax-wielding actor Garry invigorates the wild second act.

— pam kragen, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Fleet-footed 'Noises Off' shines in its fluidity, laughs," 15 Apr. 2018
What the jury would never hear is that several of Detrie's past girlfriends accused him of being jealous, abusive, and controlling.

— erin moriarty, CBS News, "The Fitbit Alibi: 21st century technology used to help solve Wisconsin mom's murder," 24 Mar. 2018
Vermont, on the other hand, was the least lustful and least jealous, and ranked in the bottom five for laziness and vanity.

— david brennan, Newsweek, "Florida Is the Most Sinful State in the U.S., and Vermont the Most Virtuous," 22 Feb. 2018

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.”