zealot

[ zel-uht ]

noun

1. a person who shows zeal.
2. an excessively zealous person; fanatic.

   Synonyms: bigot, crank, extremist

3. (initial capital letter) 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.

zealot

¹

/ ˈzɛlət /

noun

1. an immoderate, fanatical, or extremely zealous adherent to a cause, esp a religious one

Zealot

²

/ ˈzɛlət /

noun

1. any of the members of an extreme Jewish sect or political party that resisted all aspects of Roman rule in Palestine in the 1st century ad

Other Words From

• under·zealot noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of zealot¹

First recorded in 1400–50; earlier zelote from Late Latin zēlōtēs, from Greek zēlṓtēs, equivalent to zēlō- (variant stem of zēloûn “to be zealous”; zeal ) + -tēs agent suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of zealot¹

C16: from Late Latin zēlōtēs, from Greek, from zēloun to be zealous, from zēlos zeal

Synonym Study

See fanatic.

Example Sentences

Cryptocurrency zealots preaching the gospel of Web3 claim everything we do online will be powered by blockchains.

From Quartz

QAnon zealots in private forums whispered that he was a paid actor, not a cop at all.

From Time

The great silencing that right-wing zealots are shouting about to their millions of followers on social media, radio, TV and in newspapers is not an example of Orwellian repression.

From Washington Post

Of course, one scenario could bail out StarTech, and maybe it’s the one the zealots are counting on.

From Fortune

In a sense, Tesla will be a victim of the zealots who sent its stock price on a moonshot.

From Fortune

Kirsten Powers talks to the author of 'Zealot' about the double standard.

From The Daily Beast

Prof. Dershowitz opposes the BDS advocate on one extreme and the radical settler zealot on the other.

From The Daily Beast

Before securing the Republican nomination, Romney bent over backwards to brand himself as an anti-illegal-immigration zealot.

From The Daily Beast

Michele Bachmann is a “delusional, paranoid zealot,” a “flake.”

From The Daily Beast

His father, Hutton Gibson, is an outspoken religious zealot who has said the Holocaust never happened.

From The Daily Beast

But these congregations assembled under conditions at once so formidable and romantic as made a zealot of the most cold.

From Project Gutenberg

The zealot for every species of sport, the candidate for every order of whim, was the light-hearted mirthful Lionel.

From Project Gutenberg

Hampden deserved no more honourable name than that of the “zealot of rebellion.”

From Project Gutenberg

If this were a fetch of human wit, it was in the austere zealot and puritan a mockery.

From Project Gutenberg

For this reason he believed blindly in its wonders, much as a zealot believes in the immense powers of the devil.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• die-hard
• extremist
• fanatic
• militant
• radical