zeal

[zeel]

noun

1. fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor.

   Synonyms: passion, intensity
   Antonyms: apathy

zeal

/ ziːl /

noun

1. fervent or enthusiastic devotion, often extreme or fanatical in nature, as to a religious movement, political cause, ideal, or aspiration

Other Word Forms

• zealless adjective
• underzeal noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of zeal¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English zele, from Late Latin zēlus “jealousy, rivalry,” from Greek zêlos

Word History and Origins

Origin of zeal¹

C14: from Late Latin zēlus, from Greek zēlos

Example Sentences

As “True Nature” illustrates, “The Snow Leopard” differs from Matthiessen’s previous nonfiction because it melds science with a spiritual quest, incorporating the author’s newfound zeal for Zen Buddhism.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It didn’t fit with his zeal for living or his disdain for shortcuts.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He spins and faces me, eyes filled with zeal.

Read more on Literature

Dubbing it “the Californian Ideology,” they argued that the “new faith” blended the “freewheeling spirit of the hippies with the entrepreneurial zeal of the yuppies.”

Read more on Salon

Mr. Howard has come to biography writing after a distinguished career in publishing at Doubleday Books, and he discourses with knowledge and zeal about Cowley’s second act as a revivalist and gatekeeper.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ardor 
• determination 
• devotion 
• diligence 
• eagerness 
• earnestness 
• fanaticism 
• fervor 
• gusto 
• inclination 
• intensity 
• passion 
• perseverance 
• sincerity 
• spirit 
• urgency 
• verve 
• warmth 
• zest