Meaning & use
jealousy
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Meanings
noununcountable
A feeling of envy or resentment toward another person's success, possessions, or advantages.
Grammar: Normally uncountable; say a feeling of jealousy rather than a jealousy in everyday English.
Patterns
- jealousy of someone
- jealousy over something
- out of jealousy
- spark jealousy
Her jealousy of her colleague's promotion made the office tense.
He tried to hide his jealousy over the new car.
The rumor was spread out of jealousy, not concern.
noununcountable
Fear or suspicion that someone you love may prefer another person, or that you may lose their affection.
Grammar: Usually uncountable; commonly follows show, feel, or act out of.
Patterns
- jealousy toward someone
- fit of jealousy
- romantic jealousy
- provoke jealousy
His constant jealousy toward her friends damaged the relationship.
A sudden fit of jealousy made her check the phone again.
She talked calmly about the jealousy that had troubled her first marriage.
Common combinations
- intense jealousy
- Intense jealousy can poison a friendship.
- out of jealousy
- He criticized the plan out of jealousy.
- professional jealousy
- Professional jealousy sometimes hides behind polite disagreement.
- fit of jealousy
- In a fit of jealousy, she deleted the message.
- spark jealousy
- The award sparked jealousy among rival teams.
Synonyms and how they differ
- envy
- Close, but envy is wanting what another person has; jealousy often adds fear of losing love, status, or advantage.
- resentment
- A bitter sense of unfair treatment; it may grow from jealousy but focuses on grievance rather than rivalry.
- possessiveness
- A desire to control a person or thing; it describes behavior more than the jealous feeling itself.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: jealousy or envy?
jealousy vs envy
Use envy when you want another person's good thing; use jealousy when you fear losing what is yours or resent a rival.
Practice
She felt a sharp pang of jealousy ___ her friend's award.
Choose one answer.
The pattern is jealousy of someone or their success. To fits reply to or happen to, with does not collocate here, and reply is the wrong word class.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “jealousy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.