Jealous

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Jealous \Jeal"ous\, a. [OE. jalous, gelus, OF. jalous, F.
     jaloux, LL. zelosus zealous, fr. zelus emulation, zeal,
     jealousy, Gr. zh^los. See {Zeal}, and cf. {Zealous}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Zealous; solicitous; vigilant; anxiously watchful.
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              I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts.
                                                    --Kings xix.
                                                    10.
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              How nicely jealous is every one of us of his own
              repute!                               --Dr. H. More.
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     2. Apprehensive; anxious; suspiciously watchful.
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              'This doing wrong creates such doubts as these,
              Renders us jealous and disturbs our peace. --Waller.
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              The people are so jealous of the clergy's ambition.
                                                    --Swift.
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     3. Demanding exclusive devotion; intolerant of rivalry.
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              Thou shalt worship no other God; for the Lord, whose
              name is Jealous, is a jealous God.    --Ex. xxxiv.
                                                    14.
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     4. Disposed to suspect rivalry in matters of interest and
        affection; apprehensive regarding the motives of possible
        rivals, or the fidelity of friends; distrustful; having
        morbid fear of rivalry in love or preference given to
        another; painfully suspicious of the faithfulness of
        husband, wife, or lover.
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              If the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be
              jealous of his wife.                  --Num. v. 14.
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              To both these sisters have I sworn my love:
              Each jealous of the other, as the stung
              Are of the adder.                     --Shak.
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              It is one of the best bonds, both of chastity and
              obedience, in the wife, if she think her husband
              wise; which she will never do if she find him
              jealous.                              --Bacon.
  
     Syn: Suspicious; anxious; envious.
  
     Usage: {Jealous}, {Suspicious}. Suspicious is the wider term.
            We suspect a person when we distrust his honesty and
            imagine he has some bad design. We are jealous when we
            suspect him of aiming to deprive us of what we dearly
            prize. Iago began by awakening the suspicions of
            Othello, and converted them at last into jealousy.
            "Suspicion may be excited by some kind of accusation,
            not supported by evidence sufficient for conviction,
            but sufficient to trouble the repose of confidence."
            "Jealousy is a painful apprehension of rivalship in
            cases that are peculiarly interesting to us." --Cogan.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  jealous
       adj 1: showing extreme cupidity; painfully desirous of another's
              advantages; "he was never covetous before he met her";
              "jealous of his success and covetous of his
              possessions"; "envious of their art collection" [syn:
              {covetous}, {envious}]
       2: suspicious or unduly suspicious or fearful of being
          displaced by a rival; "a jealous lover" [syn: {green-eyed},
           {overjealous}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  35 Moby Thesaurus words for "jealous":
     anxious, begrudging, bitter, covetous, demanding, desirous of,
     distrustful, doubting, envious, enviousness, envying, grasping,
     green, green with envy, green with jealousy, green-eyed, grudging,
     horn-mad, insecure, invidious, invidiousness, jaundice-eyed,
     jaundiced, jealousy, mistrustful, mistrusting, possessive,
     possessory, questioning, resentful, suspicious, threatened,
     vulnerable, yellow, yellow-eyed
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  JEALOUS, adj.  Unduly concerned about the preservation of that which
  can be lost only if not worth keeping.