green-eyed monster
5
6.7
- noun
- Informal
:
monstruo de ojos verdes
- It is also worth noting that Iago himself reflects back to Othello the same language when he speaks of jealousy as a "green-eyed monster."
- the green-eyed monster of jealousy
- a green-eyed monster of envy
Examples
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I like to think I am not afflicted with the green-eyed monster, but of course I am.
Blog text (13) -
In spite of all the splendid attributes of competence, dignity, and self-respect that accompanied the honorable and valiant Othello in his military career, he was merely mortal, an easy victim of the green-eyed monster.
Blog text (16) -
I think this is just a little case of the green-eyed monster.
Blog text (22) -
Days when the green-eyed monster bites deep have been known to find me in angry tears over the same music.
Blog text (7) -
Jealousy is a green-eyed monster!
Blog text (17) -
The green-eyed monster.
Fiction book (1993) -
We never really know just what the other person's story is (that woman with the adorable baby I am eyeing enviously may have had six previous miscarriages for all I know), so that's why I try to temper my green-eyed monster.
Blog text (13) -
Jealousy can be a green-eyed monster that ruins friendships.
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He always felt the green-eyed monster creeping in when he saw his rival succeed.
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They warned him that the green-eyed monster of jealousy could harm his relationship.
Synonyms
179
1.5
A feeling of anger and worry when you think someone else has what you want
117
1.5
A feeling of wanting what someone else has and feeling upset about it
A feeling of sadness and wanting something someone else has
Strong feeling of jealousy and dislike toward someone
Antonyms
How Jealous
- Informal
5
6.7
179
1.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
green-eyed + monster
The phrase personifies jealousy by combining a color attribute and a figurative 'monster', so the meaning is metaphorical rather than strictly compositional from 'green', 'eyed', and 'monster'. A B1 learner who knows the words might infer an emotional or negative force from context, but mapping 'green-eyed' specifically to 'jealousy' is literary and not fully predictable or cross-linguistically transparent, so the expression is only partially inferable.
Etymology
Green-eyed monster comes from a line by Shakespeare, who described jealousy as a monster with green eyes. That clear, scary picture explains why the phrase means 'jealousy' or 'envy' today.