emulous

American  

[em-yuh-luhs] / ˈɛm yə 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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of emulous

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

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

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

The colonists were emulous of one another as to which of them should harbor the new arrivals until they could provide for themselves.

From The Branding Needle, or The Monastery of Charolles A Tale of the First Communal Charter by Sue, Eugène

In that keen sport along the plain, of heaven; 1837. ... in emulous company Sparkling, and hurrying through the clear blue heaven; 1838 and C. Hurrying and sparkling through the clear blue Heaven.

From The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume IV (of 8) by Wordsworth, William

This treat gives fresh animation to the emulous tongues.

From Spanish Highways and Byways by Bates, Katharine Lee