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.
-
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:
The period saw a huge cash injection into theme parks, which remain a jewel in the company's crown, helping to push up the share price fivefold.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Since moving back to L.A. in 2014, Wang has vended at local farmers markets, hosted Chinese cooking demos at public libraries and helped staff Filipino restaurant Lasita, a crown jewel of Chinatown’s Far East Plaza.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Hess’s crown jewel asset was its 30% stake in an Exxon-led consortium in Guyana, a generational oil discovery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
“Remake” is McElwee’s first film in 15 years, appearing like a jewel out of a mountain of life’s rubble.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
A green jewel that just matched her eyes glittered at her throat.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
The Jewel House exhibition had to close temporarily but reopened to the public later that afternoon.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 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
Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr. made a court appearance before a judge suspended proceedings until a mental competency hearing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025
I’d put in the seventy-five dollars I had managed to save while working at Becker’s Jewel Box.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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
That Yale is willing to risk these jewels in her crown speaks volumes about the terrible power of the proposed OMB regulation.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
But no jewels will be on display and it will revert to its 17th century function as a state gallery, an informed source told AFP Monday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
But there often aren’t real-world examples of licensing agreements for corporate crown jewels; companies and the IRS frequently fight over details and assumptions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
“Pirate’s booty? You mean like gold and jewels and stuff?”
From "Mystery Map (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #3)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Why would you want to eat jeweled rice?
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
Paul Kutchinsky set out to create a supersize jeweled egg.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
According to another legend, Brigid gave her father’s jeweled sword to a needy man for him to barter for food.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 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
He drew a sword, a slender bravo’s blade with a jeweled hilt.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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
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
Bridgerton star Charithra Chandran's dress had a jewelled vine detail.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2024
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
She's become famous for her brightly coloured dresses and coats paired with a matching hat, accessorised with her signature square handbag, a string of pearls and a jewelled brooch.
From BBC ● May 31, 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
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
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
The ice glistened on the naked trees, encasing and jewelling them.
From Senator North by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
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
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.
