jewel
noun
a cut and polished precious stone; gem.
jewel
1 American
[joo-uhl]
/ ˈdʒu əl /
noun
-
jewels
plural
-
a cut and polished precious stone; gem.
-
a fashioned ornament for personal adornment, especially of a precious metal set with gems.
-
a precious possession.
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a person or thing that is treasured, esteemed, or indispensable.
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a durable bearing used in fine timepieces and other delicate instruments, made of natural or synthetic precious stone or other very hard material.
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an ornamental boss of glass, sometimes cut with facets, in stained-glass work.
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something resembling a jewel in appearance, ornamental effect, or the like, as a star.
verb (used with object)
jeweled,
jeweling,
jewelled,
jewelling
Jewel
2
American
[joo-uhl]
/ ˈdʒu əl /
noun
jewel
British
/ ˈdʒuːəl /
noun
-
a precious or semiprecious stone; gem
-
a person or thing resembling a jewel in preciousness, brilliance, etc
-
a gemstone, often synthetically produced, used as a bearing in a watch
-
a piece of jewellery
-
an ornamental glass boss, sometimes faceted, used in stained glasswork
-
the most valuable, esteemed, or successful person or thing of a number
who will be the jewel in the crown of English soccer?
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
jewel-likeadjective
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jewelledadjective
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jewellikeadjective
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unjeweledadjective
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unjewelledadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of jewel
1250–1300; Middle English jouel juel < Anglo-French jeul, Old French jouel, joel < Vulgar Latin *jocāle plaything, noun use of neuter of *jocālis (adj.) of play, equivalent to Latin joc ( us ) joke + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
A jewel is a valuable gem or stone, one that might be set in a ring or necklace. Your grandmother might keep her jewels locked in a safe, to protect them from thieves. You can see large, gorgeous jewels in museums and jewelry stores. The diamond in a diamond ring is a jewel, and the rubies in a pair of sparkly red earrings are also jewels. You can also use the word to mean "person as special as a jewel." The Old French root is jouel, which may stem from jocus, "sport or pastime" in Latin, and "that which causes joy" in Vulgar Latin.
Vocabulary lists containing jewel
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The period saw a huge cash injection into theme parks, which remain a jewel in the company's crown, helping to push up the share price fivefold.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Since moving back to L.A. in 2014, Wang has vended at local farmers markets, hosted Chinese cooking demos at public libraries and helped staff Filipino restaurant Lasita, a crown jewel of Chinatown’s Far East Plaza.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
The group’s crown jewel, Gucci, booked sales of 1.41 billion euros, down 3% on year in reported terms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Remake” is McElwee’s first film in 15 years, appearing like a jewel out of a mountain of life’s rubble.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
The old Master murmured one word, “Tolk,” and there lay the pebble, no jewel but a rough grey bit of rock.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Jewel House exhibition had to close temporarily but reopened to the public later that afternoon.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
Crissa Jewel says Zhu’s videos got her back on track to becoming Chinese.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
A family-friendly mix of artists included Elmo and Christopher Jackson, Shaggy and Busta Rhymes, Foreigner and Debbie Gibson, Jewel and Cynthia Erivo, the voices behind the hit animated series K-Pop Demon Hunters.
From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2025
He was shopping with his wife Jewel and their 2-year-old daughter Paisley, for whom he’s buying Oasis children’s gear, a sweatshirt and T-shirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2025
I’d put in the seventy-five dollars I had managed to save while working at Becker’s Jewel Box.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
If Mark Walter is selling one of the crown jewels of Los Angeles sports, is he about to sell the other?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
That Yale is willing to risk these jewels in her crown speaks volumes about the terrible power of the proposed OMB regulation.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
The Apollo Gallery of Paris's Louvre Museum, where French crown jewels worth 88 million euros were stolen in 2025 in a brazen heist, will reopen to the public on Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Wimbledon is always a very special tournament and one of the crown jewels of the British summer of sport.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
There was an entire display case filled with daggers encrusted with opulent jewels.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Why would you want to eat jeweled rice?
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
If the thieves who dropped Empress Eugenie’s crown outside the Louvre during this year’s heist, sparked an interest in jeweled headgear, try this encyclopedic guide to the world’s most famous tiaras.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
Iranian-style jewelry studded with jade and other precious stones were popular during the Ottoman period, and Joyce may have applied his newfound skills to crafting rings, earrings, necklaces, and intricate jeweled turban aigrettes.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 11, 2024
Any sweet potato will work — Japanese yams, garnet sweet potatoes, jeweled sweet potatoes, purple sweet potatoes — whatever you have available.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
The king seated himself in the right-hand throne with a golden crown upon his head and a jeweled sceptre in one pale hand.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
And at night, when the ticky-tacky disappears and the jeweling lights go on, the happy, hoppy daydream becomes a garden of visual delight.
From Time Magazine Archive
She will miss this glorious light warming the inside of her skin and jeweling the trees, the grass, the lily pond beyond the hedge.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
Evidently the blossoms had just been gathered, for the raindrops of the previous night still sparkled among their petals, jeweling with brilliancy their kaleidoscopic riot of color.
From The Wall Between by Sara Ware Bassett
For by their necessity the gods were compelled to invent the arts of metal-working, weaving, carpentry, jeweling and many other useful appliances for the human race.
From Japanese Fairy World Stories from the Wonder-Lore of Japan by Ozawa
For a half hour the torrents fell--then the sun burst forth, jeweling the forest with a million scintillant gems; but today the ape-man, usually alert to the changing wonders of the jungle, saw them not.
From Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
In a vast, dimly lit main hall spanning four levels, visitors gazed at chariots, household items, jewelled ornaments and, at the centre, Tutankhamun's iconic golden mask.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2025
"We did have somewhat of a clash at one point," she said, "when I was doing chic punk and she used to say 'That's not punk, with those jewelled safety pins'."
From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2022
Both men remain in Macau prison, a far cry from the jewelled opulence of the VIP parlours they once presided over.
From Reuters ● Sep. 19, 2022
Whether she's wearing a jewelled gown or a tweed skirt every outfit says something about her and her role as an ambassador and figurehead.
From BBC ● May 31, 2022
When he came out he was bearing in his arms a great load of treasure: things of gold, silver, copper, and bronze; many beads and chains and jewelled ornaments.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Her light had not yet reached the harbor, the further side of which was shadowy and suggestive, with dim coves and rich glooms and jewelling lights.
From Anne's House of Dreams by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery
The ice glistened on the naked trees, encasing and jewelling them.
From Senator North by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
Store sufficient of raiment is all she need have, and such jewelling as it shall please you to bestow on her.
From The White Lady of Hazelwood A Tale of the Fourteenth Century by W. (William) Rainey
Dew jewelling the grasses in the fields, the chatter of birds among the trees, a sparkling freshness in the air, and before me the road, running white into the gold of the rising sun.
From The Courtship of Morrice Buckler A Romance by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
Their powder is the best for the lapidary, and they are used for jewelling watches, and in the cutting of window- and plate-glass.
From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 1: Deposition to Eberswalde by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
