jewel
noun
a cut and polished precious stone; gem.
Showing results for jewel.
Search instead for
jeweled.
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.
-
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
-
jewelledadjective
-
jewellikeadjective
-
unjeweledadjective
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Week 4 Spelling
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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 Debut’ lets her do it all, showcasing her multifaceted gifts like a jewel box with a diamond.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Moody jewel tones and rich finishes throughout the residence make it feel like a world of its own, but it’s conveniently located at the “meeting point” of Greenwich Village, the West Village, and SoHo.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
It taught me to always give music a chance, no matter how ugly the art or how crusty the jewel case.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
After the U.S.-Iran war effectively closed the waterway, trade at Dubai’s Port of Jebel Ali—the crown jewel of DP World’s global ports network—plummeted 90%, posing a challenge to the company’s new chief executive, Yuvraj Narayan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
It was a mosque covered with mirrors on the inside, and the reflected light turned the whole thing into a shimmering jewel box.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
Throughout the 1980s, he wrote the soundtrack for a number of TV series, including the Bafta-winning The Jewel in the Crown, The Monocled Mutineer, and Alan Bennett's Talking Heads.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
When a bat tested positive for rabies in Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota on July 29, officials released a statement about two weeks later.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 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
Inside the bam Jewel slides running to the ground before the horse stops.
From "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner
While Wall Street is divided on when Musk will actually push to combine the crown jewels of his empire, Nelson thinks there’s a 90% chance it happens by the end of next year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
“There’s something campy and rebellious about putting the jewels on paper,” RonBen says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
One of the most high-profile such incidents was in October last year, when France's crown jewels were stolen in broad daylight from the Louvre in Paris.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
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
Several of the fake jewels in his rings had come out, leaving sad empty pockets where they’d once been.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Sumac guinea foul with za’atar beetroot and jeweled cauliflower rice.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
Paul Kutchinsky set out to create a supersize jeweled egg.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
Buddz went for a grouping of jeweled brooches.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 4, 2024
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
After him came a tall young man with a feathered and jeweled turban on his head and an ivory-sheathed scimitar at his side.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
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
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
We would not advise jeweling the pivot holes, because there is but slight friction, except to the foot of the balance pivot, which should be jeweled with a plano-convex garnet.
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
Insurers paid out £106,700 for the loss, but Prosecutor Julian Winship said there were only seven Fabergé sets - containing a jewelled egg, watch, whisky bottle, cigars and humidor - in existence.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
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
The Indian mutanjan pulao is also evocative of the Persian Morasa Polow or jewelled rice that packs in shreds of chicken breast along with barberries, pistachio, raisins and orange peel.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2023
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
Eurydamas’s men came back with pendants, ear-drops in triple clusters of warm lights; and from the hoard of Lord Polyktor’s son, Peisandros, came a band for her white throat, jewelled adornment.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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
From where he sat he could see the trembling lights of the village jewelling the rim of the bay like a circlet of stars.
From Flood Tide by Sara Ware Bassett
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
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
The ice glistened on the naked trees, encasing and jewelling them.
From Senator North by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
