zealous

[zel-uh s] /ˈzɛl əs/

adjective

ardently active, devoted, or diligent; full of, characterized by, or due to zeal.

Origin

1520-30; < Medieval Latin zēlōsus. See zeal, -ous

Related forms

zealously, adverb

zealousness, noun

nonzealous, adjective

nonzealously, adverb

nonzealousness, noun

pseudozealous, adjective

pseudozealously, adverb

quasi-zealous, adjective

quasi-zealously, adverb

superzealous, adjective

superzealously, adverb

superzealousness, noun

underzealous, adjective

underzealously, adverb

underzealousness, noun

unzealous, adjective

unzealously, adverb

Examples from the web for zealous

Let us not punish these companies and there customers by over zealous regulation.
zealous anti-nuclear lobbyists and a mal-informed government have created the pending energy crisis.
However, this should not be mistaken as an zealous and dogmatic certainty.
It should not seem strange then to zealous students, if some such people shall ridicule us also.
He was a zealous hunter who loved his guns and his dogs.
zealous secrecy in response to a foreign threat is not new, of course.
In many ways, modern environmentalists remind people of cult members or zealous religious fanatics.
He also charges that tax inspectors are less zealous in the south of the country.
His more zealous volunteers yearned for clarion calls, not pentameter.
They are inspired by zealous organizations to monitor parental drinking.

British Dictionary definitions for zealous

/ˈzɛləs/

adjective

filled with or inspired by intense enthusiasm or zeal; ardent; fervent

Derived Forms

zealously, adverb
zealousness, noun

Word Origin and History for zealous

ad.

1520s, from Medieval Latin zelosus (source of Italian zeloso, Spanish celoso), from zelus (see zeal). Related: Zealously, zealousness.