green-eyed monster

green +‎ eye +‎ monster. Coined by William Shakespeare in his play Othello.

green-eyed monster (plural green-eyed monsters)

1. (colloquial) Envy, jealousy, covetousness.
   • c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act 3, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:

     , scene III, line 165-167 (178–180 in later revision):

     [Iago:] O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
     It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
     The meat it feeds on; […]

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XV, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:

     The green-eyed monster had bitten [Jeeves]. He was miffed because he wasn't the brains behind this binge, the blue prints for it having been laid down by a rival. Even great men have their weaknesses.

Usually prefaced by "the".

• green-eyed

• green
• eyed
• monster