jealousy

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noun jeal·ou·sy \ ˈje-lə-sē \

Definition of jealousy

plural jealousies

1 :a jealous disposition, attitude, or feeling

a marriage destroyed by jealousy

petty jealousies

2 :zealous vigilance

cherish their official political freedom with fierce jealousy
—Paul Blanshard

See jealousy defined for English-language learners

See jealousy defined for kids

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 of jealousy from the Web

And Sansa’s comment here about Jon is also laced with a little jealousy.

— joanna robinson, vanityfair.com, "Game of Thrones," 6 Aug. 2017
And Sansa’s comment here about Jon is also laced with a little jealousy.

— joanna robinson, HWD, "How Game of Thrones Nailed Its Most Important Reunion Yet," 6 Aug. 2017
About a third of the time, the couple had argued right before the homicide took place, and about 12 percent of the deaths were associated with jealousy.

— olga khazan, The Atlantic, "Nearly Half of All Murdered Women Are Killed by Romantic Partners," 20 July 2017
Stewart and Tim Clauson talked about how neither Stenhouse nor Clauson ever had any jealousy toward the other, which Tim said was rare in the racing world.

— brody miller, Indianapolis Star, "Friendship between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bryan Clauson was 'really, really special'," 19 July 2017
The newcomer Chassey Bennett plays Ariel, who yearns to join Eric in the human world but stirs Ursula to extreme jealousy.

— james hebert, sandiegouniontribune.com, "A Divine inspiration for sea witch in Moonlight's 'Mermaid'," 11 July 2017
James was the superstar in his full powers, the biggest thing in the NBA, the lightning rod for all of the outward hatred and jealousy.

— greg cote, miamiherald, "Bosh’s Heat goodbye was gradual, overshadowed, but this gentleman-athlete earned our thanks," 5 July 2017
The two try to uncover the mystery of the brunette’s identity, while love, jealousy, ambition, seduction, and revenge complicate their efforts.

— The Courier-Journal, "50+ fun things for week of June 29-July 5," 28 June 2017
McBurney is the first man this house of women has entertained in months, and tensions rise with the advent of romance and jealousy.

— kendra james, Marie Claire, "'The Beguiled' Sanitizes Racism by Masking It with the Pretty Faces of Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning," 23 June 2017

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.

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.

Origin and Etymology of jealousy

see jealous

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First Known Use: 13th century

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jealousy Synonyms

Synonyms

covetousness, enviousness, green-eyed monster, invidiousness, envy, resentment

Related Words

animosity, enmity, hatred, ill will; malice, maliciousness, spitefulness

Near Antonyms

benevolence, goodwill, kindness, sympathy

JEALOUSY Defined for English Language Learners

jealousy

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noun

Definition of jealousy for English Language Learners

: an unhappy or angry feeling of wanting to have what someone else has
: an unhappy or angry feeling caused by the belief that someone you love (such as your husband or wife) likes or is liked by someone else