jealous
Syllables: jeal·ous/ˈd͡ʒɛl.əs/
More pronunciations (2)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈd͡ʒel.əs/
jealous adjective: suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections; suspicious of a lover's or spouse's fidelity.
Adjective
jealous (comparative jealouser or more jealous, superlative jealousest or most jealous)
- Suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections; suspicious of a lover's or spouse's fidelity.
- jealous lover
- She gave him a jealous look.
- Protective; zealously guarding; careful in the protection of something (or someone) one has or appreciates, especially one's spouse or lover.
- Thou ſhalt not bow downe thy ſelfe to them, nor ſerue them: For I the Lord thy God am a iealous God, viſiting the iniquitie of the fathers vpon the children, vnto the thirde and fourth generation of them that hate me:1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 20:5, column 2
- Soft Simon had reduced himself to the lowest class of Stalkos, or walking gentlemen, as they are termed; men who have nothing to do, and no fortune to support them, but who style themselves esquire; and who […] are jealous of that title, and of their claims to family antiquity.1805, Maria Edgeworth, Popular Tales, volume 2, page 148
- Envious; feeling resentful or angered toward someone for a perceived advantage or success, material or otherwise.
- be jealous of someone/something
- He was jealous of his friend’s success.
- Suspicious; apprehensive.
- I began my fence or wall; which, being still jealous of my being attacked by somebody, I resolved to make very thick and strong.1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC
- At length […] the Duke demanded to know of Durward who his guide was, […] and wherefore he had been led to entertain suspicion of him. To the first of these questions Quentin Durward answered by naming Hayraddin Maugrabin, the Bohemian; […] and in reply to the third point he mentioned what had...1823, Walter Scott, Quentin Durward
Verb
jealous (third-person singular simple present jealouses, present participle jealousing, simple past and past participle jealoused)
- To harass or attack (somebody) out of jealousy.
- If I go back, he starts his jealousing again. Drinking and jealousing.2005, Andrew Lansdown, The Dispossessed, page 11
- Jealousing can take place: You may notice some of your fellow female co-workers that can be jealousing you.2014, Desmond Ihenze, Secrets for Ladies, page 198
- To deliberately make (someone) jealous of another person's (often their partner's) associations with other people.
- […] where the victim of an assault had been 'jealousing' the offender about her sister.2013, Thalia Anthony, Indigenous People, Crime and Punishment
jealous meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
jealous in Hindi
- jealous
- ईर्षालू īrṣālū, ईर्षावान īrṣāvān
jealous in Tamil
- envious; feeling resentful of someone for a perceived advantage, material or otherwise
- பொறாமையான poṟāmaiyāṉa
jealous in Urdu
- jealous
- ایرشالو īrśālū
jealous in Bengali
- ঈর্ষাকাতর, ঈর্ষাপরায়ণ, পরশ্রীকাতর, হিংসুটে, অভিমানী
More languagesFewer languages
- jealous in Malayalam
- അസൂയയുള്ള asūyayuḷḷa, അസൂയാലുവായ asūyāluvāya
- jealous in Kannada
- ಅಸೂಯೆಯ, ಮಾತ್ಸರ್ಯದ, ಈರ್ಷ್ಯೆಯುಳ್ಳ, ಹೊಟ್ಟೆಕಿಚ್ಚಿನ
- jealous in Punjabi
- ਸੜਨਾ saṛnā, سڑنا saṛnā
- jealous in Sanskrit
- ईर्षु īrṣu
- jealous in Tagalog
- selos, panibugho
- jealous in Arabic
- غَيُور ḡayūr
- jealous in Malay
- cemburu
- jealous in Indonesian
- cemburu, iri
- jealous in Persian
- رشکین raškin
- jealous in Vietnamese
- ghen, ghen tị
Examples of jealous in a sentence
- I'm jealous because I'm single.
- I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die.1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray:
- The neighbouring towns were jealous of this honourable supremacy.1899, Mark Twain, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg:
- But another part of me is jealousing because Xifeng is looking at Ify like she is special, almost like she is wanting to call her daughter, and I am wanting Xifeng all to myself.2020, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebel Sisters, page 285:
Forms of jealous
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | jealouser |
| comparative | more jealous |
| superlative | jealousest |
| superlative | most jealous |
| alternative form | iealous |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | jealouses |
| present participle | jealousing |
| past participle | jealoused |
| past | jealoused |
Origin of jealous
First attested in 1382. From Middle English jelous, gelous, gelus, from Old French jalous, from Late Latin zelosus, from Ancient Greek ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”). Doublet of zealous.
Words formed from jealous
Phrases with jealous
Words that rhyme with jealous
Questions about jealous
- What does jealous mean?
- Jealous means suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections; suspicious of a lover's or spouse's fidelity.
- What is jealous in Hindi?
- Jealous in Hindi is ईर्षालू (īrṣālū), ईर्षावान (īrṣāvān). See Jealous meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use jealous in a sentence?
- I'm jealous because I'm single.
- What part of speech is jealous?
- Jealous can be an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce jealous?
- Jealous is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɛl.əs/ (UK).
Words near jealous in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: jealous (page history and authors); ईर्षालू (Hindi) (page history and authors); ایرشالو (Urdu) (page history and authors); jealous (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); jealous (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); سڑنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-jealous.wav, en-us-jealous.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-jealous.wav.
Cite this entry: “jealous.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/jealous. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.