different between selfish vs jealous

English

Etymology

From self +? -ish. Compare Danish selvisk (“selfish”), Swedish självisk (“selfish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?lf??/
• Rhymes: -?lf??

Adjective

selfish (comparative more selfish or selfisher, superlative most selfish or selfishest)

1. Holding one's own self-interest as the standard for decision making.
   • 1997, John Peniel, The Children Of The Law Of One & The Lost Teachings Of Atlantis, chapter 10, page 127

     “We all have both a selfish separate self, and an Inner Being that is One with the Universal Spirit. In this sense, every human has a sort of ‘split personality’. We are all kind of what you call ‘schitzy’ with these two sides, these two people living within us. And they are in total opposition. The free will dictates which of these two sides will have its way in our life, at every given moment.”

2. Having regard for oneself above others’ well-being.

Usage notes

• Said of people and their thoughts and actions, such as motives, desires, acts.

Synonyms

• egoistic
• egotistic
• egotistical
• self-centered
• greedy

Antonyms

• altruistic
• philanthropic
• selfless
• unselfish

Derived terms

• selfishly
• selfishness

Translations

See also

• self-serving

Anagrams

• Fishels, hisself

English

Etymology

[1382] From Middle English jelous, gelous, gelus, from Old French jalous, from Late Latin zelosus, from Ancient Greek ????? (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”). Doublet of zealous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d??l?s/
• Hyphenation: jeal?ous
• Rhymes: -?l?s

Adjective

jealous (comparative jealouser or more jealous, superlative jealousest or most jealous)

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. [from 13th c.]
2. Protective, zealously guarding, careful in the protection of something one has or appreciates. [from 14th c.]

   For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jehovah, is a jealous God. —Exodus 34:14 (NET)

3. Envious; feeling resentful or angered toward someone for a perceived advantage or success, material or otherwise. [from 14th c.]
4. Suspecting, suspicious.

Usage notes

Some usage guides seek to distinguish "jealous" from “envious”, using jealous to mean “protective of one’s own position or possessions” – one “jealously guards what one has” – and envious to mean “desirous of others’ position or possessions” – one “envies what others have”. This distinction is also maintained in the psychological and philosophical literature. However, this distinction is not always reflected in usage, as reflected in the quotations of famous authors (above) using the word jealous in the sense “envious (of the possessions of others)”.

Derived terms

• jealous-like adjective
• jealously adverb
• jealousy noun
• jealousness noun

Related terms

• zeal
• zealot
• zealous

Translations

References

Anagrams

• jalouse