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.
-
a durable bearing used in fine timepieces and other delicate instruments, made of natural or synthetic precious stone or other very hard material.
-
an ornamental boss of glass, sometimes cut with facets, in stained-glass work.
-
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
List 10
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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:
Later Monday, Leo rode in his popemobile through Metz and celebrated mass in St. Stephen's Cathedral, a jewel of Gothic architecture famous for its stained-glass windows.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
Trade at the Port of Jebel Ali, the crown jewel of DP World’s global network, plummeted 90%, posing a challenge to Yuvraj Narayan, the new CEO of the Middle East’s largest port operator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
It was the jewel in the crown of his growing investment portfolio, before Swiss bankers repossessed it just three years later.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Former President Reagan called the right to vote “the crown jewel of American liberties.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
We were playing Armstead Academy, the jewel of the New England private day schools.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
Liberia has charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and a range of other offences, the country's Justice Ministry announced.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
I did talk to people who are happy with Runna, including Jewel Christensen, a seasoned runner from Yakima, Wash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 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
Becker’s Jewel Box was a fancy store, the kind of place I never had occasion to go into, with a humming air conditioner and buzzing fluorescent lights.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
The 30-year-old curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario had been scrutinizing a portrait of a young Black woman bedecked in jewels and wearing a shimmering blue gown with pearls around her neck and wrists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
Forest are one of the club's Everton and their fans would hope to surpass, not bolster them by selling one of their crown jewels to them.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Faux jewels, sequins and shiny baubles were Parton’s signature once she became a household name.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
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
“Every day she sits there, amid the jewels, dragon-style,” said Ratwin.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Why would you want to eat jeweled rice?
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
A stunning jeweled dagger hilt and scabbard from Jahangir’s reign incorporate more than 2,000 diamonds, rubies and emeralds set in an intricate pattern in gold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
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
Standing regally with flowy black pants, jeweled sunglasses and a white shirt with oversized balloon sleeves covered by an enormous, reddish floral-like cape, Hill triumphantly proclaimed, “New Jersey, I’m home!”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 18, 2023
Chandelier-lanterns hang from the high ceiling, floating up and down like jeweled clouds, bathing each floor with a tiny glow.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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
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
There is no jeweling in the escapement or on the other end of the balance staff.
From The Auburndale Watch Company First American Attempt Toward the Dollar Watch by Edwin A. Battison
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
Annie did an interview on her "charity work" with the Aberdeen Evening News, turning up at a hotel in Portree in a striking crimson dressing gown and fingers adorned with jewelled rings.
From BBC ● May 22, 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
Her fingers, fair and slender, were laden with jewelled rings, any one of which would have fed us for a year.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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
She paused a moment, looking up at the wooded hill-top, which the sun was jewelling in silver.
From Other Things Being Equal by Emma Wolf
The ice glistened on the naked trees, encasing and jewelling them.
From Senator North by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
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
So we stroll and look at the shops, at the filigree gold jewelling of the peasants, at a good bookshop.
From Sea and Sardinia by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
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.
