jealous
jeal·ous/ˈd͡ʒɛl.əs/adjective, verb
jealous is spelled J-E-A-L-O-U-S, 2 syllables: jeal·ous. The wrong spelling people search most is jelous: about 480 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Jealous is an adjective meaning “Suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections…”.
How many letters and syllables are in jealous?
| Letters | 7: J-E-A-L-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: jeal·ous |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,752nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, jelous, about 480 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell jealous?
Jealous is spelled J-E-A-L-O-U-S. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for jealous in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is jealous?
Jealous appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,752nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce jealous?
- US /ˈd͡ʒɛl.əs/
- Australia /ˈd͡ʒel.əs/
Jealous has 2 syllables, split jeal·ous in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-jealous.wav, En-us-jealous.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-jealous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with jealous?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as jealous from its last stressed vowel (/ɛləs/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: jalouse.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of jealous
- jealouser comparative
- more jealous comparative
- jealousest superlative
- most jealous superlative
- iealous
- jealouses present, singular, he/she/it
- jealousing participle, present
- jealoused participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does jealous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
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
- 2
Protective; zealously guarding; careful in the protection of something (or someone) one has or appreciates, especially one's spouse or lover.
- 3
Envious; feeling resentful or angered toward someone for a perceived advantage or success, material or otherwise.
be jealous of someone/something
- 4
Suspicious; apprehensive.
verb
- 1
slangTo harass or attack (somebody) out of jealousy.
- 2
To deliberately make (someone) jealous of another person's (often their partner's) associations with other people.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Jealous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | jaloux, jalouse , envieux |
| German | eifersüchtig , neidisch , eifrig, eifernd |
| Portuguese | ciumento , invejoso |
| Spanish | celoso, encelado , envidioso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does jealous come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).