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.
-
liveliness or energy; animating spirit.
-
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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zestsimple
-
zestssimple
-
have zestedperfect
-
has zestedperfect
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am zestingprogressive
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are zestingprogressive
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is zestingprogressive
-
have been zestingperfect progressive
-
has been zestingperfect progressive
Past
-
zestedsimple
-
had zestedperfect
-
was zestingprogressive
-
were zestingprogressive
-
had been zestingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
Finish with finely grated lemon zest and a confetti of chopped chives.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
“With all due respect to cayenne,” Lev Sercarz said, he prefers the sweet heat and orange zest of the Aleppo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
None of this comes close to comparing with the attempted civic zest of 1976.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Nuria was described by her family after the crash as "a bright, feisty, girl who had a zest for life".
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
Its poverty was of a particular kind—lack of imagination, color, zest.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Turn the speed of your mixer down to medium, and add in your eggs one at a time, followed by your sour cream, citrus zests, and vanilla extract, making sure it is all evenly combined.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2022
Jawad says the toast can be made in an over or air fryer and can be paired with fruit zests, syrups, sugars, flavored flakes, nut butters, chocolate, vanilla extract and spices like nutmeg.
From Fox News ● Feb. 17, 2022
During the lunch rush, Clevenger moves like a man who has as many arms as an octopus — boiling pastas and sauteing over eight burners and plating and dusting lemon zests and breadcrumbs to finish.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2018
Those agencies by which the emotional life has always been expressed and stimulated found a welcome prepared for them in the hearts of college youths, stirred with new zests and a more lively self-consciousness.
From College Teaching Studies in Methods of Teaching in the College by Klapper, Paul
Such zests as his particular little phial of cayenne pepper and his pennyworth of pickles in a saucer, were not wanting.
From Little Dorrit by Dickens, Charles
Cut the zested limes in half, squeeze out 2 tablespoons juice and whisk into the coriander mixture to make a dressing.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 22, 2022
To serve, place chicken on a serving platter and drizzle with olive oil and a large squeeze of the zested lemon.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 24, 2022
To this mixture I added chicken stock and heavy cream, let the sauce simmer until it thickened, then zested and juiced a big lemon directly over the skillet.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2019
Inside Mr. Rucci’s refrigerator are Fage yogurt, Red Jacket Orchards applesauce, Muscle Milk and a partly zested lemon.
From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2011
Miss Matilda was aware of a slackening from the keen excitement and zested peril of their escape.
From Where the Pavement Ends by Russell, John
Some of these fruits have bright flavor profiles, some are super sweet, some are tart, some lend themselves well to zesting and some are perfect in desserts.
From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2023
Photo: Microplane The Microplane is incredible for grating cheese super-fine and fast, it’s the ideal citrus zesting device, and it’s a solid replacement for a garlic press, all for a very reasonable price.
From The Verge ● May 18, 2022
This was exciting because “zest” is a word I loved as a kid, and zesting an orange felt like answering the call of a destiny long forgotten.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2022
If you must use those artisanal cocktail kits, keep them close to you and make sure you’re not accidentally zesting your neighbors with garnish.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2020
“I’m chopping and zesting and eating foods I’ve never tried before,” she said, “with ingredients I would have never thought of buying, like Meyer lemons and watermelon radishes.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2016
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.
