Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One who is zealous, especially excessively so.
- n. A fanatically committed person.
- n. A member of a Jewish movement of the first century A.D. that fought against Roman rule in Palestine as incompatible with strict monotheism.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One who is zealous or full of zeal; one carried away by excess of zeal; an immoderate partizan: generally in a disparaging sense.
- n. [capitalized] One of a fanatical sect or party (the Zelotæ) among the Jews of Palestine under Roman dominion, who on account of their excesses in behalf of the Mosaic law were also called Sicarii or Assassins. The Zealots gained the ascendancy in a civil war, and withstood the Romans so fiercely as to bring about the total destruction of Jerusalem, a. d. 70. Zealots are also mentioned (perhaps by confusion) as a sect of the Essenes, similarly characterized by fanatical zeal for their ascetic practices.
Wiktionary
- n. one who is zealous, one who is full of zeal for his own specific beliefs or objectives, usually in the negative sense of being too passionate; a fanatic
- n. a member of a radical, warlike, ardently patriotic group of Jews in Judea, particularly prominent from a.d. 69 to 81, advocating the violent overthrow of Roman rule and vigorously resisting the efforts of the Romans and their supporters to heathenize the Jews.
- n. a member of an anti-aristocratic political group in Thessalonica from 1342 until 1350.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One who is zealous; one who engages warmly in any cause, and pursues his object with earnestness and ardor; especially, one who is overzealous, or carried away by his zeal; one absorbed in devotion to anything; an enthusiast; a fanatical partisan.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a fervent and even militant proponent of something
- n. a member of an ancient Jewish sect in Judea in the first century who fought to the death against the Romans and who killed or persecuted Jews who collaborated with the Romans
Etymologies
- Middle English zelote, from Latin zēlōtēs, from Greek, from zēlos, zeal.
Examples
“At some level, a zealot is a zealot and love of a property can also lead to discussions online that could be interpreted as “spirited debate”, but usually come across more as “psychotic ravings mixed with threats of grisly murder.””
“GOI demostrates that a zealot is a zealot no matter what they claim as their ‘affiliation’.”
Think Progress » Debunking the Right: The World Did Not See the Iraqi Threat as Bush Did
“However, as I said, this was not my business, and besides, I learned a long time ago that arguing with a zealot is like arguing with a brick wall: it doesn't matter what you say, it's going to remain the same as it was when you started, impassive and unchanged.”
“For a zealot from the other side of the political spectrum, I might suggest reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.”
“This religious zealot is intent on only one thing: punishing women and trying to keep them “in their place””
Think Progress » Kansas lawmaker compares rape to auto theft.
“[A] ccepting at face value documents without a verifiable provenance that come from the hand of a known partisan zealot is not typical journalistic behavior.”
“On the other hand, accepting at face value documents without a verifiable provenance that come from the hand of a known partisan zealot is not typical journalistic behavior.”
“Second, anybody who's a privacy zealot is not gonna be able to get behind the whole Clear thing.”
“The judge, clearly no law-and-order zealot, is quoted as saying, I was brought up in the era of Just William.”
“Far worse than a misguided zealot is the moral coward who says nothing and allows that zealotry to do real harm. continue reading ...”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘zealot’.
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types of people
the name of a certain type of person or character
confidante, sycophant, exhibitionist, introvert, demagogue, ascetic, philanthropist, imbecile, zealot, stoic, fanatic, epicure and 3 more...
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Eollodwyn's list
Favoritest Words Ever
abscond, draconian, wan, neophyte, defenestration, busker, sibilant, superfluous, facetious, zealot, auspicious, hubris and 9 more...
muamor One who loves morality so well he will commit crime to maintain it... - Foolish Dictionary Feb 26, 2008