Feelings หึง hǔeng
jealous (in love) adjective
- hǔeng rising
- Rising: start low, dip, then rise to the top, like a doubtful “Really?”
อิจฉา ìt-chǎa
envious, jealous (of what someone has) verb
- ìt low
- chǎa rising
- Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.
- Rising: start low, dip, then rise to the top, like a doubtful “Really?”
How to use it
Thai splits jealousy in two. หึงhǔeng is jealousy in love, your partner smiling at someone else; someone prone to it is ขี้หึงkîi-hǔeng, and possessive is หวงhǔang. อิจฉาìt-chǎa is envy of what others have: a friend's holiday photos, a colleague's new car. Said with a smile, อิจฉาจังìt-chǎa jang is a friendly "lucky you!".
Other spellings you'll see
There's no single official way to write Thai in English letters. We mark the tone of every syllable; online you'll also find:
- heung
- hung
- itcha
- it cha
More feelings in Thai
All feelings
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones