What does jealousness mean?
Jealousness names the painful or uneasy state that arises when another person has something one strongly wants or when one fears losing a valued relationship. It commonly involves envy, insecurity, possessiveness, resentment, or anxiety about a partner's attention, although jealousness can also concern friends, siblings, colleagues, possessions, and opportunities. The word is used across contexts, from personal relationships to academic and clinical discussion. Jealousy is the more familiar term, while jealousness explicitly identifies the quality of being jealous and can suit formal or analytical prose. Jealous behavior is not necessarily identical to jealous feeling: jealousy may be expressed through suspicion, anger, sadness, withdrawal, or attempts to control another person. Considered neutrally, jealousness is a normal human response to threatened attachment, though its intensity and the actions it prompts can vary widely. Distinguishing the emotion from deliberate conduct is therefore important in both conversation and analysis.
nounJealousness is the state of feeling resentful or insecure because another person has something one desires, especially a partner's affection or attention.
- The state or quality of being jealous, especially of another person's affection, attention, or possessions.
- A possessive or suspicious feeling arising from fear that a valued relationship or possession may be taken by someone else.
"She tried to hide her jealousness, but her unease was obvious."
"His jealousness disappeared when he understood that his friend had only been teasing him."
"The workshop helps participants address jealousness without blame or hostility."
Rare in normal usage; pluralization is grammatically regular, but jealousy and jealousness are usually used in the singular or modified rather than counted.
"The novel traces the jealousnesses and rivalries that develop within the ensemble."
Jealousness grew from a word that originally meant watchful or intensely devoted: the emotional heat of jealousy once burned brightest when devotion felt threatened.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does jealousness come from?
Jealousness comes through Middle English from Old French jalous, meaning jealous or zealous, with the related noun jealousy developing from Old French jalousie. These forms ultimately derive from Latin zelosus, used in the sense of zealous or full of rivalry, and from the Greek zēlos, meaning jealousy or eagerness. The word's history suggests a broad sense of intense feeling and rivalry before its modern emphasis on threatened affection and possession.
Related word forms
How jealousness is actually used
Jealousness is standard in both British and American English, although jealousy is more common in everyday speech. It can describe ordinary human emotion or, in formal writing, be used more neutrally as the subject of psychological or social discussion.
Easily confused with jealousness
Envy usually means desire for what another person possesses, whereas jealousness often emphasizes insecurity, resentment, or fear of losing someone's affection.