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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Jealous \Jeal"ous\, adjective [OE. jalous, gelus, OF. jalous, F. jaloux, LL. zelosus zealous, fr. zelus emulation, zeal, jealousy, Gr. zh^los. See {Zeal}, and cf. {Zealous}.]
1. Zealous; solicitous; vigilant; anxiously watchful.
I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. --Kings xix. 10.
How nicely jealous is every one of us of his own repute! --Dr. H. More.
2. Apprehensive; anxious; suspiciously watchful.
'This doing wrong creates such doubts as these, Renders us jealous and disturbs our peace. --Waller.
The people are so jealous of the clergy's ambition. --Swift.
3. Demanding exclusive devotion; intolerant of rivalry.
Thou shalt worship no other God; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. --Ex. xxxiv. 14.
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.
If the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife. --Num. v. 14.
To both these sisters have I sworn my love: Each jealous of the other, as the stung Are of the adder. --Shak.
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
jealous
adjective
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, adjective Unduly concerned about the preservation of that which can be lost only if not worth keeping.
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