emulous

American  

[em-yuh-luhs] / ˈɛm jə ləs /

adjective

1. desirous of equaling or excelling; filled with emulation.

   boys emulous of their fathers.

2. arising from or of the nature of emulation, as actions or attitudes.

3. Obsolete. jealous; envious.

---

emulous British  

/ ˈɛmjʊləs /

adjective

1. desiring or aiming to equal or surpass another; competitive

2. characterized by or arising from emulation or imitation

3. archaic envious or jealous

---

Other Word Forms

• emulousness
  noun
• nonemulousness
  noun
• nonemulous
  adjective
• unemulous
  adjective
• emulously
  adverb
• nonemulously
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of emulous

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin aemulus “vying with”; see -ulous

Explanation

Use the adjective emulous to describe someone who tries to imitate or copy another person. An emulous student might both admire and feel jealous of the teacher he imitates. When you're emulous of a friend, you feel a bit competitive, wanting to do what she does, and to do it better. Younger siblings are sometimes emulous of older brothers or sisters, and art school students might be emulous of established, working artists. When you want to be just like someone, you're emulous, and when you want to surpass that person, you're also emulous. The Latin root is aemulari, "to rival."

Example Sentences

Cultivator of the gardens of the mind, himself the very bud and bloom of humanistic learning, he follows Socrates in having taken as his modus operandi the emulous pursuit of all that is most excellent.

From Time Magazine Archive

There is some little pecuniary advantage attached to the office of monitor, which makes them emulous to obtain it.

From Maria Edgeworth by Zimmern, Helen

Zephyr and Flora emulous conspire To breathe their graces o'er the field's attire; The one gives healthful freshness, one the hue Fairer than e'er creative pencil drew.

From The Lusiad or The Discovery of India, an Epic Poem by Camões, Luís de

Writing to please the mistress of his heart, and emulous of epic fame, Boccaccio rejected the usual apostrophes and envoys of the Cantori da Banca, and constructed a poem divided into books.

From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by Symonds, John Addington

Thomas Cavendish, emulous of Drake’s example, fitted out three vessels for an expedition to the South sea in 1586.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6 "Geodesy" to "Geometry" by Various