zeal
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of zeal
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English zele, from Late Latin zēlus “jealousy, rivalry,” from Greek zêlos
Explanation
Zeal is dedication or enthusiasm for something. If you have zeal, you're willing, energized, and motivated. Zeal is often used in a religious sense, meaning devotion to God or another religious cause, like being a missionary. Zeal doesn't have to be religious, though: a feeling of gusto and enthusiasm for anything can be called zeal. People have zeal for sports teams, bands, causes, and (often, but not always) their jobs. If you have passion for something, you have zeal, which is kind of a mix of eagerness and energy and devotion.
Vocabulary lists containing zeal
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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List 1
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The Things They Carried
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“His tenacity, his drive, his zeal, his adventure for life. He’s just Naya in boy form,” Previtire said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
And in its zeal to purge the newsroom of dissent, CBS and Weiss may have inadvertently triggered the creation of their most dangerous future competitor — and accidentally set the stage for its own undoing.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
But American, Israeli and Lebanese officials are finding there are no easy options to disarm a U.S.-designated terrorist group that is embedded in society and bound to its cause with religious zeal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
After a life-threatening case of sepsis, she's thrown herself back into that world with determined zeal.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Chris, she confesses, used to poke fun at her capitalist zeal by calling her the duchess of York, Ivana Trump McCandless, and "a rising successor to Leona Helmsley."
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
