green-eyed monster

American  

noun

1. jealousy.

   Othello fell under the sway of the green-eyed monster.

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green-eyed monster Idioms  

1. Jealousy, as in Bella knew that her husband sometimes succumbed to the green-eyed monster. This expression was coined by Shakespeare in Othello (3:3), where Iago says: “O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” It is thought to allude to cats, often green-eyed, who tease their prey. Also see green with envy.

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Etymology

Origin of green-eyed monster

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

It doesn’t matter what others are or aren’t doing or getting; envy is a green-eyed monster.

From Washington Post • Oct. 7, 2021

It perplexed the author that Rebecca was marketed by her publisher as a love story; she viewed it as very dark, and all of its characters as eaten alive by the green-eyed monster.

From Slate • Oct. 19, 2020

Can you really vanquish the green-eyed monster with introspection and communication alone?

From The Guardian • Sep. 25, 2018

But jealousy, that green-eyed monster, has got Leontes in a stranglehold.

From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2015

It rolled over in bed when he got home before sunrise: a green-eyed monster lying next to his young, inscrutable wife, but then Zizmo would blink and the monster would disappear.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides