Word.ws English Dictionary

zealousy

zealousy noun: zeal; zealotry.

Noun

zealousy (uncountable)

  1. Zeal; zealotry.
    • We all make mistakes, some more frequently than others. It should not be our purpose to condemn each other for mistakes made. Neither should we, with bitter partisan zealousy, condone all wrongs committed.1922, Retail Clerks International Advocate: 1922-23 - Volumes 29-30, page 5
  2. The passionate desire for an exclusive relationship.
    • Anyway, she was with him now more than with any of us. It made me angry and scornful, kept my zealousy alive, prevented me from understanding her or forgiving—I always saw the two heads together and the fatal kiss.1898, Frank Harris, A Daughter of Eve
    • There's a fine line, starting with a comparison in a relationship and moving toward either zealousy, a fervent passion to protect an exclusive relationship, and envy, a resentment about a difference and desire to conquer that difference.2011, Pure Emotion, page 93

Origin of zealousy

From Ancient Greek ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”), from ζηλόω (zēlóō, “to emulate, to be jealous”), equivalent to zealous + -y.

Questions about zealousy

What does zealousy mean?
Zealousy means zeal; zealotry.
What part of speech is zealousy?
Zealousy is a noun.

Words near zealousy in the dictionary

  1. zealouser
  2. zealousest
  3. zealously
  4. zealousness
  5. zealousnesses
  6. zealousy
  7. zeals
  8. zeamatin
  9. zeamet
  10. zeamets
  11. zeamine

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: zealousy (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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Cite this entry: “zealousy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/zealousy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.