Meanings
nounjealousy (countable and uncountable, plural jealousies)
plural jealousies · alternative obsolete jealousie
- countableuncountableA state of being jealous; a jealous attitude.
a man of many jealousies
4 more examples
She was mad with jealousy.
Jealousy was, however, aroused among the English nobility at the favouritism shown the Dutch newcomer.
1907, Charles J. Archard, The Portland Peerage Romance[…]the jealousy of his foes of each other's share in the booty[…].
1891, Louis Antoine Fauvelet De Bourrienne, R. W. Phipps, transl., Memoirs Of Napoleon BonaparteHe knew what it was like to feel jealousy over the possessions of others... he'd never thought he could make someone feel the same. He didn't want to make someone feel the same. [...] "I want one for myself." Quentin's smile faded.
2010 September 10, Scott Sigler, THE STARTER: Space Opera Adventure, Empty Set Entertainment, →ISBN- archaiccountableuncountableA close concern for someone or something, solicitude, vigilance.
For euer I supoosed that he had ben to yonge and to tendyr to take vpon hym these aduentures / And therfore by my wille I wold haue dryuen hym aweye for Ialousy that I had of his lyf / for it maye be no yong knyghtes dede that shal enchyeue this aduenture to the ende
1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “vij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book VIII
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Opposite
nouna feeling of jealous envy (especially of a rival)
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchjalousie
- Middle Englishjalousie
- Englishjealousy
From Middle English jalousie, from Old French jalousie, equivalent to jealous + -y. Doublet of jalousie. Related also to zeal, zealous. Displaced native Old English æfest and Old English nīþ.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φθόνος
- φθόνος (phthónos)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Arabic حَسَد, غَبْط
- حَسَد (ḥasad)close, zealous vigilance, envy
- غَبْط (ḡabṭ)close, zealous vigilance, envy
- غَيْرَة (ḡayra)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- حَسَد (ḥasad)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Bulgarian ре́вност, за́вист
- ре́вност (révnost)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- за́вист (závist)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Catalan gelosia, gels
- gelosiajealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- gelsa resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Chinese Cantonese 嫉妒, 妒忌
- 嫉妒 (zat⁶ dou³)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- 妒忌 (dou³ gei⁶)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Chinese Mandarin 妒忌, 羡慕
- 妒忌 (dùjì)close, zealous vigilance, envy
- 羡慕 (xiànmù)close, zealous vigilance, envy
- 嫉妒 (jídù)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- 妒忌 (dùjì)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- 醋勁 /醋劲 (cùjìn)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- 醋 (cù)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- 醋意 (cùyì)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- 妒嫉 (dùjí)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Czech žárlivost, závist
- žárlivostjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- závista resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Danish jalousi, misundelighed
- jalousijealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- misundeligheda resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- misundelsea resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Dutch jaloersheid, naijver
- jaloersheidclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- naijverclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- jaloeziejealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- jaloersheidjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- afgunstjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- naijverjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- ijverzuchtjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- ijverjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- nijda resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- afgunsta resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Esperanto ĵaluzo
- ĵaluzojealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Estonian armukadedus
- armukadedusjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Finnish mustasukkaisuus, kateus
- mustasukkaisuusjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- kateusa resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
French jalousie, envie
- jalousieclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- envieclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- jalousiejealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- jalousiea resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- enviea resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- convoitisea resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
German Neid, Missgunst
- Neidclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- Missgunstclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- Eifersuchtjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- Missgunstjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- Missgunsta resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- Neida resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Greek ζήλια, ζήλια
- ζήλια (zília)close, zealous vigilance, envy
- ζήλια (zília)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- ζήλια (zília)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Hebrew קִנְאָה, קִנְאָה
- קִנְאָה (kin'á)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- קִנְאָה (kin'á)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Hindi जलन, ईर्षा
- जलन (jalan)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- ईर्षा (īrṣā)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Hungarian féltékenység, féltékenykedés
- féltékenységjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- féltékenykedésjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Icelandic afbrýði, afbrýðisemi
- afbrýðijealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- afbrýðisemijealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Irish formad
- formadclose, zealous vigilance, envy
Italian gelosia, invidia
- gelosiajealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- invidiaa resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Japanese 妬み, 嫉妬
- 妬み (netami)close, zealous vigilance, envy
- 嫉妬 (shitto)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- しっと (shitto)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- ジェラシー (jerashī)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- 焼きもち (yakimochi)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- ねたみ (netami)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Korean 질투, 부러움
- 질투 (jiltu)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- 부러움 (bureoum)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Latin invidia, zelus
- invidiaa resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- zelusa resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Latvian greizsirdība
- greizsirdībajealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Lithuanian pavydas, pavyduliavimas
- pavydasjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- pavyduliavimasjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Māori pūngaengae
- pūngaengaejealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Norwegian Bokmål sjalusi, misunnelse
- sjalusijealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- misunnelsea resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Polish zazdrość, zawiść
- zazdrośćclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- zawiśćclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- zazdrośćjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- zawiśća resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- zazdrośća resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Portuguese inveja, ciúme
- invejaclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- ciúmejealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- ciúmesjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- invejaa resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Punjabi ਈਰਖਾ
- ਈਰਖਾ (īrakhā)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Romanian gelozie, invidie
- geloziejealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- invidiea resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Russian ре́вность, за́висть
- ре́вность (révnostʹ)close, zealous vigilance, envy
- за́висть (závistʹ)close, zealous vigilance, envy
- ре́вность (révnostʹ)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- за́висть (závistʹ)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Scottish Gaelic eud, eud
- eudclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- eudjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- euda resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Slovak žiarlivosť, závisť
- žiarlivosťjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- závisťa resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Spanish envidia, celo
- envidiaclose, zealous vigilance, envy
- celojealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- celosjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- celotipiajealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- celerajealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- celambrejealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- acharesjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- celosíajealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- envidiaa resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Swahili ghera
- gherajealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Swedish svartsjuka, avund
- svartsjukajealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- avunda resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- avundsjukaa resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Tagalog selos
- selosjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Tamil பொறாமை, அழுக்காறு
- பொறாமை (poṟāmai)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- அழுக்காறு (aḻukkāṟu)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- பொறாமை (poṟāmai)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- எரிச்சல் (ericcal)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- வயிற்றெரிச்சல் (vayiṟṟericcal)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Turkish kıskançlık
- kıskançlıkjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Ukrainian ре́внощі, ре́вність
- ре́внощі (révnošči)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- ре́вність (révnistʹ)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- за́здрість (zázdristʹ)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- за́здрощі (zázdrošči)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- за́здрість (zázdristʹ)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
- за́висть (závystʹ)a resentment towards someone for a perceived advantage or superiority they hold
Urdu حَسَد, اِیرْشا
- حَسَد (hasad)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- اِیرْشا (īrśā)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- جَلَن (jalan)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- اِیرْکھا (īrkhā)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- رَشْک (raśk)jealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Vietnamese ghen, lòng ghen tị
- ghenjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
- lòng ghen tịjealous attitude (e.g. fear of infidelity)
Cite this entry
APA
jealousy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jealousy
MLA
“jealousy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jealousy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “jealousy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/jealousy.
Source: jealousy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.