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

petty jealousies among political rivals a marriage ruined by infidelity and jealousy He was driven crazy with jealousy. He was unable to control his jealousies.

Recent Examples on the Web As the week begins, you may be challenged to avoid jealousy and unfair generalizations. — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, "Horoscope for April 11, 2021: Libra, you’re jealous of a loved one; Pisces, create the life you dream of," 11 Apr. 2021 They’ve been genetically chosen for genius, and nurtured in an egalitarian pod, far away from socioeconomic inequalities, but Burger ultimately asserts that there’s no arguing with human nature and the forces of desire, lust, jealousy and rage. — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, "Review: The kids aren’t all right in the allegorical space adventure ‘Voyagers’," 7 Apr. 2021 Yellow roses symbolize either friendship and care, or jealousy and greed. — Janet B. Carson, Arkansas Online, "Happy Valentine's Day," 15 Feb. 2021 Hemingway's dismissal of Jones' work, which would go on to win the National Book Award and be made into an Oscar-winning movie, may have stemmed from jealousy. — Neal Justin, Star Tribune, "In Ken Burns' latest, you'll like Hemingway the artist more than Hemingway the man," 2 Apr. 2021 True, most of the life in this tale, which is considerable, comes from its principals—people rooted in a world where jealousy is summoned to life in an instant and knows no end. — Dorothy Rabinowitz, WSJ, "‘Atlantic Crossing’ Review: Harboring Royals and Passions," 31 Mar. 2021 Asked about jealousy arising among residents as some are eligible for vaccine and others are not, Newsom promised an abundance of vaccine supply in the coming months that could open sites to all Californians. — Chronicle Staff, San Francisco Chronicle, "Coronavirus updates from the Bay Area: March 4-10, 2021," 11 Mar. 2021 Winfrey labeled that response to Meghan's success as jealousy. — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, "Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex gets her voice back," 8 Mar. 2021 Last week, Redner gave the internet a brief look at the impressive house, in the form of a TikTok video that has since garnered over 728,000 views—and Swifties everywhere are drunk on jealousy. — Mary Elizabeth Andriotis, House Beautiful, "This TikTok User Went Viral for Living in Taylor Swift’s Childhood Home," 21 Dec. 2020

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