Learn English – Differences between “envious” & “jealous”

adjectivesdifference

I am a little confused with them because sometimes they have been translated similar and sometimes different in my native tongue. For example please choose the best adjective for following situations:

  1. A man/woman toward another man/women.
  2. A man toward his competitor (two lovers & one woman).
  3. A man toward all women of his family or even nationality or religion.

Best Answer

Envious: You envy something (or someone) another person has and you wish you have too, usually something you cannot have at all or which would need too much effort to have, especially when the other person got it with ease.

Jealous: You are jealous of something (or someone) you have and you fear it can be taken away from you, so its more bound to specific things, while you can envy a skill, for example, you can't be jealous of it, because it cannot be unlearned, usually.

Answering your samples:

  • A man/woman is envious toward another man/woman if the other one possesses something he/she doesn't have.

  • A man/woman is jealous toward another man/woman if he/she own some kind of strong relationship and fears it can be taken away.

  • A man is envious toward his competitor, and jealous toward the "object" of the competition.

  • A man is protective toward all women of his family or even nationality or religion, no envy or jealousy involved here in my opinion.

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