Ralf said:
The husband in the given example might be envious since his neighbour's new wife is so lovely and much younger. Does "jealous" really has the same implication in this case?
No. An easy way to think of it is that one is jealous of what he has and envious of what he doesn't have. I'll explain.
If you're jealous, you're very careful in guarding what you have or you are resentfully suspicious of a rival.
E.g. Let's say you have a very beautiful wife. Every time you go out, men just drool all over her. You love her and don't want anyone else to flirt with her, so it could be said that you are a jealous husband. Suppose a male friend of hers just wanted to take her to dinner. She might decline, stating, "I'm sorry, but Ralf is a bit jealous, so I really can't go out alone without him." You aren't envious of anyone, but you are jealous and want to protect what you have.
Although
jealousy is often used with regards to romances or possessions, it can also be used in this sense, "
I am jealous of my constitutional rights. I want to keep what I have and don't want anyone else to take them away from me!
If you're envious, you are unhappy or resentful because of what
someone else has. Let's say you are a very hard worker, but you can never seem to make enough money to really do what you want in life. But your neighbor was born into a rich family. He doesn't work much, takes lots of vacations, and seems to have an endless supply of money to do whatever he wants. You might be envious because of what he has -- you're the hard worker. But he seems rather lazy and is receiving what
you deserve!
To reiterate, you're jealous of what you have. You're envious of what you don't have!
However, since
so many people use the word
jealous when the word that really should be used is
envious, one of the "new" (I say sarcastically) definitions of
jealousy is envy. Sigh.....
