jewel
noun
a cut and polished precious stone; gem.
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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
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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:
“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
New reads abound for your vacation tote throughout the weeks of July, with fiction picks featuring a Carnival cruise casualty, a highly entertaining jewel heist at the Waldorf-Astoria, and a Soviet-era madcap adventure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The crown jewel of the property is surely the chef’s kitchen, described in the listing as “the heart of the home.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
So can Newcastle hang on to Guimaraes, their most prized jewel of all?
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
He paused briefly in the center, the highest point, where he could see all the way to Manhattan, glittering like a jewel right down to its southern tip, which remained dark, and empty.
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
His girlfriend, 25-year-old Jewel Rudolph, feels vindicated by her decision to start a business in 2019 selling açai bowls at farmers markets and not going to college like her mom wanted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
Labour county councillor Jewel Miah, who was also in the briefing, said Abbott's remarks were prejudiced and has called for him to resign.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 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
Spot her at the legendary Catch One — formerly the Catch, founded by Jewel Thais-Williams in 1973 — living the life that informs her work, among those who make life worth living.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2025
Like Mr. Clutter, the young man breakfasting in a cafe called the Little Jewel never drank coffee.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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
Demand for Cartier’s most expensive jewels is strong now that wealthy households are getting even richer from surging stock markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Syria was once an archaeologist's paradise, home to some of the oldest and best-preserved jewels of ancient civilisations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Wimbledon is always a very special tournament and one of the crown jewels of the British summer of sport.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 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
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
Museums in Europe are filled with the jeweled relics of kings and queens, the supreme headgear of monarchy.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2023
Each flower and blade of grass was decked out in jeweled pendantry with necklaces of sparkling raindrops.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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
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
Evidently the blossoms had just been gathered, for the raindrops of the previous night still sparkled among their petals, jeweling with brilliancy their kaleidoscopic riot of color.
From The Wall Between by Bassett, Sara Ware
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
When she swapped it much later for the jewelled Sword of Offering, the nation breathed a sigh of relief.
From BBC ● May 7, 2023
"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
When he came out he was bearing in his arms a great load of treasure: things of gold, silver, copper, and bronze; many beads and chains and jewelled ornaments.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
She paused a moment, looking up at the wooded hill-top, which the sun was jewelling in silver.
From Other Things Being Equal by Wolf, Emma
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
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 Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud)
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 Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)
The ice glistened on the naked trees, encasing and jewelling them.
From Senator North by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn
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.
