zealot

American  

[zel-uht] / ˈzɛl ət /

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.

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Zealot ¹ British  

/ 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

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zealot ² British  

/ ˈzɛlət /

noun

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

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Related Words

See fanatic.

Other Word Forms

• underzealot noun

Etymology

Origin of zealot

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

Example Sentences

The explanation is hard to untangle for those who aren’t true numerology zealots.

From The Wall Street Journal

For TV producers, it's long been tempting to invite two self-righteous zealots into a studio to bellow at each other.

From BBC

The U.S. built the post-war world around rules—not because we are zealots about law, but because rules have helped us.

From Barron's

Still, the ubiquity, complexity and accountability tax filing requires make it a good litmus test of the AI zealots and doomsayers’ beliefs.

From The Wall Street Journal

However, I will mention that the words “right wing” and “zealot” and “micro-dosing” were part of the narrative.

From Salon

Related Words

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