Did you know?
Zealous vs. Jealous
Zealous and jealous share not just a rhyme, but an etymology. Both words ultimately come from the Latin zelus “jealousy,” and in the past their meanings were somewhat closer to each other than they are today. In the 16th and 17th centuries, zealous occasionally was used in biblical writing to refer to a quality of apprehensiveness or jealousy of another. By the 18th century, however, it had completely diverged in meaning from jealous, signifying “warmly engaged or ardent on behalf of someone or something.” Today, zealous often carries a connotation of excessive feeling: it typically means “fiercely partisan” or “uncompromisingly enthusiastic.”
Examples of zealous in a Sentence
Lynn Margulis, Curious Minds, (2004) 2005
Sir Thomas was zealous in the pursuit of recusants, not poachers, and was otherwise an amiable man.
—S. Schoenbaum, Shakespeare's Lives, 1991
Zealous in his ministerial labours, blameless in his life and habits, he yet did not appear to enjoy that mental serenity, that inward content, which should be the reward of every sincere Christian and practical philanthropist.
—Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847
He had no cause for self-reproach on the score of neglect, or want of thought, for he had been devoted to her service; and yet a hundred little occasions rose up before him, on which he fancied he might have been more zealous, and more earnest, and wished he had been.
—Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist, 1838
The detective was zealous in her pursuit of the kidnappers.
Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 12 June 2024
At the same time, and for all its zealous energy, the Who’s heady rock opera can’t help feeling like a curio: The album is from 1969, Pete Townshend and director Des McAnuff’s stage musical first hit Broadway in 1993, and this revival marks the latter’s 30th birthday.
—Vulture Editors, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2024
The Moores haunt Books & Books, flip through bins at the city’s half-dozen eclectic and well-stocked record shops -- Moore is a zealous collector of vinyl, poetry books, fanzines and ephemera, and Prinz is an art-book editor.
—Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 9 June 2024
At the same time, decades of zealous reverence for deregulation as the solution to nearly every problem served to cede economic fate to a handful of companies that dominated key industries.
—Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, 2 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for zealous 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'zealous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to zealous
Dictionary Entries Near zealous
Cite this Entry
“Zealous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zealous. Accessed 2 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
zealous
adjective
Share