12 Red Flags Someone Is Jealous Of You In A Big Way

Is someone showing they are jealous of you?

A woman with long brown hair is frowning and resting her chin on her hand while looking off to the side. She has a puzzled and slightly annoyed expression on her face. The background is a solid blue color.

Jealousy is a common emotion, albeit an unattractive one to witness. Jealousy is not just an emotion—it leads to an array of behaviors that reveal said emotion if you’re aware enough to know what to look for. Here are 12 red flag behaviors that signal someone is majorly jealous of you.

1. They offer backhanded compliments.

Two men, dressed in vintage athletic attire, stand on a clay tennis court shaking hands and laughing. One wears a black and white jacket, the other in a red jacket. Both hold wooden tennis rackets. The background features a chair umpire stand and greenery.

When someone is jealous of you, the compliments they offer you are laced with criticism. You can generally tell a backhanded compliment when you can’t be sure if it is genuine praise or a put-down. In normal circumstances, the distinction between praise or a put-down is crystal clear.

2. They undermine your achievements.

A woman wearing glasses and a gray suit is engaged in a serious conversation with two men, both dressed in business attire. Her hand is slightly raised as she listens intently. They are in an office setting with gray partitions in the background.

It’s common for jealous people to try to “knock you down a peg.” They downplay or dismiss your success. They may also say that your achievement is not that big of a deal, you got lucky, or someone else just did you a favor. All so they don’t feel so bad about not achieving the same thing.

3. They start imitating you.

Two women with long, wavy brown hair wearing black and white polka dot dresses stand side by side. One gazes directly at the camera with a serious expression, while the other looks at her from a profile view. A lush, green outdoor background is visible.

A person who is jealous of you typically wants what you have—that could be in your personal life or your professional life. Since they want a piece of what you have, they may start acting like you to try to outdo you in your areas of success.

4. They gossip about you.

A woman stands in the foreground looking sad and concerned while three colleagues in the background whisper and laugh together in an office setting with glass walls.

Gossips spend their time causing and stirring drama. If the person is a gossip, they will talk behind your back, create drama, and spread rumors or negative comments to others. Their goal is to make you feel worse about your accomplishments, make it harder for you to succeed, or make it harder for other people to see your value.

5. They turn everything into a competition.

Two women are engaged in an arm wrestling match, each leaning over a white rectangular block. One woman is wearing a pink top, the other in a black top, and they both have focused expressions, intensely staring at each other as they grip hands.

It’s exhausting to deal with someone who is locked in eternal competition. They may constantly try to one-up you, even in the most pointless of ways. You may be experiencing this if you can’t see a reason why it would matter that they claim a victory—they just want to win for the sake of being “better” than you at something.

6. They don’t offer support.

Two women are standing outdoors, engaged in an intense conversation. Both have a perplexed expression and are gesturing with their hands as they talk. One woman is wearing a brown coat, and the other a red top. Trees and a blurred background are visible.

Even if a person isn’t personally invested in you, they are still likely to offer you a congratulations or a word or two of support for your accomplishments. However, a jealous person isn’t likely to offer any support. And if they do, it’ll often be accompanied by an eye roll or laced with sarcasm.

7. They negatively criticize you or your work.

A woman with long dark hair wearing a red sweater is standing outdoors and looking directly at the camera with a serious expression. She is holding up her index finger as if to indicate "no" or "stop." The background is blurred.

There is a big difference between negative and constructive criticism. Constructive criticism may sound negative, but it is given in the hope that the receiver will use it to improve. Negative criticism is only about tearing you or your work down. If you feel bad about it, it may just be negative.

8. They exhibit passive-aggressive behavior.

Two women are in the image, one in the foreground and the other in the background. The woman in the foreground has brown hair, tied back, and is looking down with a serious expression. The woman in the background has long brown hair and is also looking serious.

Passive-aggressive behavior is a way for someone to express their distaste without direct confrontation. It offers plausibility for them to say, “Oh, I didn’t mean it like that…” Except they do mean their sarcasm, snide remarks, backhanded compliments, and subtle jabs.

9. They exaggerate their own success.

A woman with long dark hair and a serious facial expression is staring directly at the camera. She is wearing a black sleeveless top with a lace pattern on the front. The background is a plain, muted gray.

Jealous people must steal the spotlight from you in some way. Instead of acknowledging and celebrating your success, they will try to turn the conversation around to their own achievements. They may even embellish their stories to seem more impressive than you.

10. They may try to exclude you from groups.

A young man in a white t-shirt sits alone with a thoughtful expression in a busy room. In the background, a group of three people are engaged in conversation, slightly out of focus. The room has a casual atmosphere with bookshelves and tables.

Social isolation is a way for the jealous person to control the flow of information. They may try to push you out of social circles to make you feel left out or excluded. That also gives them the opportunity to influence the group’s opinions about you.

11. Their attitude may shift rapidly.

Two men in business attire engaging in a heated discussion. The man on the left, wearing a blue suit and green tie, points his finger at the other man, who is dressed in a black suit. They stand in a hallway with glass walls.

A person who is jealous of you and trying not to let it show is suppressing a lot of emotions. Jealousy itself is an emotion, as is anger. That person may be doing their best to cover up those two emotions, but they will leak through sooner or later. They may be friendly to you one moment, but then hostile or cold to you the next.

12. They may offer inappropriate advice.

Two women are sitting at a table engaged in a conversation. The woman on the right, wearing a dark polka-dotted shirt, gestures with her hand while speaking, and the woman on the left, wearing light-colored clothing, listens attentively. A laptop is on the table.

Bad advice is one way that a jealous person may try to sabotage your success. Instead of helping you, they give you advice and information that is likely to knock you off course. And you may not realize that until further down the road when you’re suffering the effects of it, unfortunately.