zing
Americannoun
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zings
plural
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vitality, animation, or zest.
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a quality or characteristic that excites the interest, enthusiasm, etc..
a tourist town with lots of zing.
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a sharp singing or whining noise, as of a bullet passing through the air.
verb (used without object)
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zings,
present (3rd person singular)
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zinged,
past participle, past
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zinging
present participle
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to move or proceed with a sharp singing or whining noise.
The cars zinged down the highway.
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to move or proceed with speed or vitality; zip.
verb (used with object)
-
zings,
present (3rd person singular)
-
zinged,
past participle, past
-
zinging
present participle
-
to cause to move with or as with a sharp, singing or whining noise.
The pitcher zinged a slider right over the plate.
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Slang. to blame or criticize severely.
City Hall always gets zinged when crime increases.
noun
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a short high-pitched buzzing sound, as of a bullet or vibrating string
-
vitality; zest
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
zingsimple
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zingssimple
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have zingedperfect
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has zingedperfect
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am zingingprogressive
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are zingingprogressive
-
is zingingprogressive
-
have been zingingperfect progressive
-
has been zingingperfect progressive
Past
-
zingedsimple
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had zingedperfect
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was zingingprogressive
-
were zingingprogressive
-
had been zingingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of zing
First recorded in 1910–15; imitative
Explanation
Zing is a quality of excitement or enthusiasm. If you want to add some zing to your nephew's birthday party, you might want to hire a magician or offer pony rides. A director might add zing to her movie by enticing a big movie star to play a role, and your brother may tend to put extra zing in his stories in the form of exaggerated, colorful details. In both examples, zing makes something that's slightly dull seem a bit livelier. You can also use zing for a spicy or piquant flavor: "I put some cayenne pepper in the sauce to give it some zing."
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:
There is nothing fresh or original here, no wit or zing, no pressure on language or form or voice or thought.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
The finished dumpling — which can be enjoyed as a quick snack or meal — is deliciously pillowy and spicy with a hint of zing.
From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2026
After recovering from a serious hip injury, Breach has rediscovered her pinball zing.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2025
But it’s the gleam in his eyes, the gusto in his delivery, that makes every line zing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2025
I couldn’t zing him like I wanted to—and trust me, I really wanted to—only because, well, we were both messed up, hurting, and it would’ve just been a wack thing to do.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
If I have to have a very difficult conversation, am I going to feel the zings and zaps of anxiety, stress and fear?
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2023
The amorphousness of the series — which zings between parodic edge and epiphanies — might be a function of its peculiar DNA.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 18, 2023
When one of the band members wonders whether they will be heading south from Chicago, Sue zings, “It’s 1933. Look at me and ask that again.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 11, 2022
Yet as he lay horizontally watching the show in his red bunk bed, those same yips and mews and zings never got old.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2021
When the stone is speeding, it is aimed, one string is released, and the stone zings to its mark.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
As Stinson’s anxiety appeared to be spiraling, Trevino — looking at his cap — zinged him: “Dodgers, are you kidding me?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2023
Mr. Biden’s list includes another prominent former Republican senator, Alan Simpson of Wyoming, a popular wisecracking moderate who worked across the aisle even as he zinged politicians and journalists with his sharp wit.
From New York Times ● Jul. 1, 2022
In 2019, Lukas zinged trainer Mark Casse by saying they combined with Bob Baffert for 29 Triple Crown victories: 14 for Lukas and 15 for Baffert.
From Seattle Times ● May 19, 2022
Now on the mound, the lefty zinged it.
From Fox News ● Sep. 20, 2021
An unpleasant feeling zinged from the boy’s chest up to his head, which throbbed, and back down to his feet, which tingled.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
In the case of “Marty Supreme,” set in the early 1950s, that means a radical use of electronica: sequenced beats, zinging harps and treated choir voices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025
From the control room next door, the animals show up as dots on the computer monitors, looking like remote-control Ping-Pong balls zinging around the room and occasionally coming to rest in odd corners.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 16, 2023
The Hebrew-school comedy “Tahara” mimics the zinging pleasure of overhearing teenagers chatter as they walk home from school: It’s gossipy, delicious and a tad cruel.
From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2022
Director Peter Florence said: "We'll be zinging the programme as if from a green field in Wales."
From BBC ● May 6, 2020
Under normal conditions, the zirconium does its job well, reinforcing the sturdy rods without getting in the way of zinging neutrons.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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.
