Ah, la gelosia! That passionate mix of love, doubt, and a few overreactions we’d rather forget. In Italian, this word sounds and means pretty much the same as “jealousy” in English, but it hides another meaning that might just surprise you. Curious? Let’s find out what it is!
Gelosia
But first, a quick grammar note: gelosia is a feminine noun (la gelosia) and its plural form is le gelosie (though it’s not used very often).
Now let’s explore all the meanings of gelosia in Italian:
1. Gelosia = Jealousy
Let’s start with the most familiar meaning. La gelosia in Italian is, first and foremost, that emotional state we feel when we suspect that the person we love is being unfaithful. That restless feeling that has inspired more than a few Italian songs, from Dirotta su Cuba, who sing that la gelosia won’t let you sleep (listen here), to Coma Cose, who describe it as something that chokes you like a hiccup (listen here).
La gelosia gli sta facendo perdere la testa.
Jealousy is making him lose his mind.
The most common ways we use gelosia in this sense include:
- Soffrire di gelosia: to suffer from jealousy
Dopo tanti anni insieme, non avrei mai pensato di soffrire ancora di gelosia!
After so many years together, I never thought I’d still suffer from jealousy!
- Morire di gelosia: to die of jealousy
Mi conosci, io morirei di gelosia se lo vedessi flirtare con un’altra.
You know me, I’d die of jealousy if I saw him flirting with someone else.
- Fare una scenata di gelosia: to make a jealous scene
Quando ha visto quella foto su Instagram, le ha fatto una scenata di gelosia assurda!
When he saw that photo on Instagram, he made a huge jealous scene!
- Avere un attacco di gelosia: to have a jealous moment
Quando l’ha visto parlare con un’altra, ha avuto un attacco di gelosia.
When she saw him talking to someone else, she had a jealous moment.
- Destare la gelosia di qualcuno: to stir someone’s jealousy
Il suo comportamento alla festa di Clara ha destato la gelosia della fidanzata.
His behavior at Clara’s party stirred his girlfriend’s jealousy.
And because we always have a saying for everything, here are a couple of proverbs about love and jealousy:
- Amore e gelosia nascono in compagnia: love and jealousy are born together. So, picture this: love smiles and jealousy is right there peeking over its shoulder!
- Senza gelosia, l’amore vola via: without jealousy, love flies away. In other words, a tiny dose of drama here and there is a key ingredient!
2. Gelosia = Envy, resentment
La gelosia is also that little “why not me?” that pops into our head when someone else has something we want, whether it’s their success, their shiny new car, or their picture-perfect life on Instagram.
This sense of gelosia appears in expressions like:
- Provare gelosia per qualcosa: to feel jealous of something
Andrea non lo ammetterà mai, ma prova una grande gelosia per il successo del fratello.
Andrea will never admit it, but he’s really jealous of his brother’s success.
- Provare gelosia nei confronti di (qualcuno): to feel jealous of someone
Elena ha ammesso di provare ancora gelosia nei confronti del suo ex.
Elena admitted she still feels jealous of her ex.
- Essere divorato/a dalla gelosia: to be eaten up by jealousy
Si è sempre mostrato sorridente, ma dentro era divorato dalla gelosia per la promozione del collega.
He always put on a smile, but inside he was eaten up with jealousy over his coworker’s promotion.
3. Gelosia = Protectiveness, possessiveness
Sometimes we use gelosia when talking about being protective (and maybe a little possessive!). Like when something is so precious to us that we’d rather wrap it in bubble wrap and stick a vietato toccare (do not touch) sign on it than let anyone else use it.
Sono molto gelosa dei miei libri.
I’m very possessive about my books.
The main phrase we use in this sense is:
- Custodire con gelosia: to treasure, to hold onto dearly
Questo scialle è un ricordo di nonna che custodiamo con gelosia.
This shawl is a keepsake from grandma that we hold onto dearly.
You’ll also hear a lot this expression with the adjectivegeloso/a (jealous):
- Essere geloso/a di qualosa: to be protective or possessive of something
Luigi è molto geloso della sua privacy, non gli piace condividere troppo.
Sergio is very protective of his privacy; he doesn’t like sharing too much.
4. Gelosia = Window shutter
The more surprising meaning of gelosia in Italian? A type of persiana (window shutter)! Specifically, the kind with slanted slats that let us peek outside without being fully seen.
Here’s the story: shutters arrived in Italy thanks to Venetian merchants, who imported them from ancient Persia (hence persiane). This particular type of shutter with slanted slats was later nicknamed gelosia as a playful nod to the supposedly quite possessive Persian husbands who used them so their wives could watch the world outside without being seen. Crazy how jealousy ended up becoming an important element of home décor, right?
Apri le gelosie, così entra un po’ di luce.
Open the shutters so some light can come in.
D’estate teniamo le gelosie socchiuse per non fare entrare il caldo.
In summer, we keep the shutters half-closed to keep the heat out.
Valentina Nicastro is a travel writer in love with her home country, Italy. Having travelled widely around the globe, she realised there was more to explore closer to home and decided to put the passport aside for a while. When she is not immersed in documenting Italy, you’ll find her donning her communication consultant hat, weaving words as a content writer and bridging linguistic divides as a translator.
