zest
Americannoun
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keen relish; hearty enjoyment; gusto.
-
an agreeable or piquant flavor imparted to something.
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anything added to impart flavor, enhance one's appreciation, etc.
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piquancy; interest; charm.
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liveliness or energy; animating spirit.
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the peel, especially the thin outer peel, of a citrus fruit used for flavoring.
lemon zest.
verb (used with object)
noun
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invigorating or keen excitement or enjoyment
a zest for living
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added interest, flavour, or charm; piquancy
her presence gave zest to the occasion
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something added to give flavour or relish
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the peel or skin of an orange or lemon, used as flavouring in drinks, etc
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have zestedperfect
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has zestedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been zestingperfect progressive
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am zestingprogressive 1st person singular
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zestingparticiple
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is zestingprogressive 3rd person singular
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zestssingular 3rd person
-
has been zestingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
are zestingprogressive
Past
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had zestedperfect
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zestedparticiple
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were zestingprogressive plural
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had been zestingperfect progressive
-
was zestingprogressive singular
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zestedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of zest
1665–75; < French zest (now zeste ) orange or lemon peel used for flavoring < ?
Explanation
Zest is a kind of zeal or enthusiasm. If you've got a zest for something, you put your whole heart and soul into it. Dancers who have great zest leap, kick, and soar their way around the stage with a kind of joyful energy. Oddly enough, zest can also be the outer peel of a lemon or orange, which chefs scrape into their dishes when they want to add some tartness and tanginess to a recipe. People who live with that same kind of spice are said to have a "zest for life." In other words, they live their lives with a lot of flavor and gusto. A student who has a zest for learning dives into her books with an enjoyment and relish most people reserve for their wedding day.
Vocabulary lists containing zest
100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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A Culinary Vocabulary Sampler
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Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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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.
Lemon Zest: Chavez calls it his “secret ingredient” and likens it to “a magic powder.”
From Salon • Feb. 26, 2026
Zest the lemon into a shallow bowl and stir in the mustard.
From Washington Post • May 12, 2022
With the help of his uncle, Cissoko tested his faith in 2019 by signing with the San Diego Zest FC, a fourth-division team that played in USL2.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 9, 2022
Instead, he has become an apostle of “Boosterism,” a loud, crass glorification of his middle-class way of life in Zenith, “the Zip City — Zeal, Zest and Zowie — 1,000,000 in 1935.”
From New York Times • Dec. 31, 2021
Martin Lumsen's little boy Willy carried a tasseled banner inscribed "Zenith the Zip City—Zeal, Zest and Zowie—1,000,000 in 1935."
From Babbitt by Lewis, Sinclair
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.
