green-eyed monster
Noun: * Jealousy, especially intense or consuming jealousy: The phrase "green-eyed monster" is a metaphorical term for the powerful and often destructive emotion of jealousy. It personifies jealousy as a monster, suggesting it can control a person's thoughts and actions.
The term is used to describe the state of being intensely jealous, particularly in a competitive context involving a rival. It often carries a literary or slightly formal tone.
- Noun:
- His constant suspicion and accusations were clear signs that the green-eyed monster had taken hold of him.
- She tried to suppress the green-eyed monster when she saw her colleague receive the promotion she wanted.
- In the play, the character is ultimately destroyed by the green-eyed monster.
- "to be consumed by the green-eyed monster": To be completely overwhelmed and controlled by jealousy.
- After the breakup, he was consumed by the green-eyed monster, checking her social media constantly.
- "to awaken/summon the green-eyed monster": To cause jealousy to arise in someone.
- Her sudden success seemed to awaken the green-eyed monster in some of her former friends.
This is a fixed idiomatic phrase. Its most famous usage comes from William Shakespeare's play Othello (Act 3, Scene 3), where Iago warns Othello: "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." The color green has long been associated with envy and sickness.
- Jealousy: The general feeling of resentment toward someone's advantages or success.
- Envy: A desire to have a quality, possession, or advantage belonging to someone else.
- Covetousness: A strong desire to possess something belonging to someone else.
- Green with envy: To be extremely jealous. (This is a more common, less metaphorical phrase with a similar meaning).
- When she saw the new car, she was green with envy.
- a feeling of jealous envy (especially of a rival)