What does it mean?
Die Eifersucht, pronounced like this, means “jealousy”.
It’s a combination of the word Eifer (eagerness) and sucht (craving or yearning) which, unusually for German, doesn’t really seem to do justice to the sometimes overwhelming power of the emotion it describes.
If anything, the adjective, eifersüchtig, sounds even weaker – but this may actually be the secret of the word’s genius.
Just as Eifersucht corresponds to the English word “jealousy”, “envy” also has its Germanic twin: Neid.
Why do I need to know Eifersucht?
We live in a world where generations of marketing Machiavellis have taught us to crave what we don’t have – a phenomenon which seems to have been turbo-charged beyond all recognition since the advent of the digital revolution and the proliferation of images of curated perfection.
Under these circumstances, there’s something which seems strangely, even nostalgically attractive, about the idea of falling into a bout of good old-fashioned jealousy.
Eifersucht, which can sound a bit like the noise you hear when you shrug into an old and well-worn dressing gown, can be understood as a protective or anxious feeling.
It's the feeling you have when there's someone or something in your life which you truly cherish, and the fear that builds when someone or something appears which threatens to take them away from you.
It’s not a great emotion, of course, but at least it means you appreciate what you already have.
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Neid, on the other hand, is all about wanting something you don’t have and (if it’s fame, fortune and a garage full of Ferraris) probably never will.
Eifersucht may end up making you destroy the thing you love. Neid will make you dismiss it as something small and unimportant, which somehow seems far worse.
Use it like this:
Ihre Eifersucht auf die neue Kollegin war offensichtlich.
Her jealousy of the new colleague was obvious.
Eifersucht kann eine Beziehung stark belasten.
Jealousy can put a great strain on a relationship.
Ich bin nur eifersüchtig, weil ich dich liebe.
I'm only jealous because I love you.
Sie wurde eifersüchtig, als sie ihn mit einer anderen Frau sah.
She became jealous when she saw him with another woman.
Er wird von Neid aufgefressen.
He's eaten up with envy.
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