zealot
Syllables: zeal·ot/ˈzɛl.ət/
zealot noun: one who is zealous, one who is full of zeal for their own specific beliefs or objectives, usually in the negative sense of being too passionate; a fanatic.
Noun (1)
zealot (plural zealots)
- One who is zealous, one who is full of zeal for their own specific beliefs or objectives, usually in the negative sense of being too passionate; a fanatic.
- For Modes of Faith let graceleſs zealots fight; / His can't be wrong whoſe life is in the right:1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle III, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 55, lines 305–306
- Synonyms:
- enthusiast, fanatic
- A member of a radical, warlike, ardently patriotic group of Jews in Judea, particularly prominent in the first century, who advocated the violent overthrow of Roman rule and vigorously resisted the efforts of the Romans and their supporters to convert the Jews.
- A member of an anti-aristocratic political group in Thessalonica from 1342 until 1350.
Noun (2) capitalized: Zealot
Zealot (plural Zealots)
- Alternative letter-case form of zealot.
zealot meaning in Hindi, Arabic and Persian
zealot in Hindi
- zealous person
- कट्टरपंथी kaṭṭarpanthī
zealot in Arabic
- zealous person
- غَيُور ḡayūr, مُتَحَمِّس mutaḥammis, مُتَعَصِّب mutaʕaṣṣib
zealot in Persian
- zealous person
- متعصب mota'asseb, فناتیک fanâtik
Examples of zealot in a sentence
- The zealots glowed with religious fervor.
- They called themselves zealots, as they were “zealoters” . . .
- The zealots paraded prognostic placards proclaiming chattels like “He Protecc, He Attacc, He’s Eric Black.”
Synonyms of zealot
Forms of zealot
| plural | zealots |
|---|---|
| alternative historical | Zealot |
| plural | Zealots |
Origin of zealot
Initially only found as Middle English zelote, an epithet of Simon the Zealot, acquiring its current senses in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Middle English derives from Latin zēlōtēs, from Ancient Greek ζηλωτής (zēlōtḗs, “emulator, zealous admirer, follower”), from ζηλόω (zēlóō, “to emulate, to be jealous”), from ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”).
Words formed from zealot
Words that rhyme with zealot
Questions about zealot
- What does zealot mean?
- Zealot means one who is zealous, one who is full of zeal for their own specific beliefs or objectives, usually in the negative sense of being too passionate; a fanatic.
- What is zealot in Hindi?
- Zealot in Hindi is कट्टरपंथी (kaṭṭarpanthī). See Zealot meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is zealot?
- Zealot is a noun.
- How do you pronounce zealot?
- Zealot is pronounced /ˈzɛl.ət/.
- What is the plural of zealot?
- The plural of zealot is zealots.
Words near zealot in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: zealot (page history and authors); Zealot (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-zealot.wav.
Cite this entry: “zealot.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/zealot. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.