zealous

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Pronunciation

• (British, America) IPA: /ˈzɛl.əs/

Adjective

zealous

1. Full of zeal; ardent, fervent; exhibiting enthusiasm or strong passion.
   • 1791, James Boswell, The life of Samuel Johnson, new ed. (1831) by John Wilson Croker, volume 1, page 238:

     Johnson was truly zealous for the success of "The Adventurer;" and very soon after his engaging in it, he wrote the following letter:

   • 1896, Andrew Dickson White, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (2004 edition), page 122:

     Doubtless many will exclaim against the Roman Catholic Church for this; but the simple truth is that Protestantism was no less zealous against the new scientific doctrine.

   • 1940, Foster Rhea Dulles, America Learns to Play: A history of popular recreation, 1607-1940, page 61:

     […] and there were few more zealous dancers at the fashionable balls in the Raleigh Tavern at Williamsburg.

   • 2011 April 4, "[http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2058044_2060338_2060079,00.html Newt Gingrich]," Time (retrieved 9 Sept 2013):

     Newt Gingrich . . . left Congress in 1998, following GOP midterm-election losses that many blamed on his zealous pursuit of Bill Clinton's impeachment.

Synonyms

• (full of zeal) ardent, eager, enthusiastic, fervent, passionate, zealotic

Antonyms

• (full of zeal) apathetic, dispassionate, indifferent, unenthusiastic

Related terms

• jealous
• zeal
• zealot
• zealotic
• zealotical
• zealotry

Translations

• French: zélé
• German: eifrig, begeistert
• Italian: zelante
• Portuguese: zeloso
• Russian: рья́ный
• Spanish: celoso, ferviente

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