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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
Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 5 June 2025
It can be triggered by stress, fear, anxiety, jealousy, guilt, anger, need…all sorts of things.
—Mary Clements Evans, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
Downs thinks Jimmy might also feel some jealousy if Kayla started dating someone.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 29 May 2025
Ventura added that his jealousy triggered his temper.
—Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 15 May 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 15 Jun. 2025.
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jealousy
noun
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