Zealot definition

zĕlət
zealots
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Frequency:
Among the ancient Jews, a member of a radical political and religious sect that openly resisted Roman rule in Palestine.
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A person who is zealous, esp. to an extreme degree; fanatic.
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A fanatically committed person.
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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.
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The definition of a zealot is someone who is fanatical about a belief.

An example of a zealot is an extremely religious person.

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A member of a Jewish movement of the first century ad that fought against Roman rule in Palestine as incompatible with strict monotheism.
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One who is zealous, especially excessively so.
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(historical) 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.
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(historical) A member of an anti-aristocratic political group in Thessalonica from 1342 until 1350.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
zealot
Plural:
zealots

Origin of zealot

  • Middle English zelote from Latin zēlōtēs from Greek from zēlos zeal

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • First coined in English in 1638, from Ancient Greek ζηλωτής (zÄ“lōtÄ“s, “emulator, zealous admirer, follower"), from ζῆλος (zÄ“los, “zeal, jealousy"), from ζηλόω (zÄ“loō, “to emulate, to be jealous").

    From Wiktionary

Zealot Sentence Examples

  • The failure of Jaureguy did not deter a young Catholic zealot, by name Balthazar Gerard, from attempting to assassinate the man whom he looked upon as the arch-enemy of God and the king.

  • Jason gets a new lease on life from a religious zealot.

  • Laud was a prodigy of parts and learning over whose tomb Art and Genius still continued to weep. Hampden deserved no more honourable name than that of the "zealot of rebellion."

  • He now flies the evangelical flag in the UK, a rightwing religious zealot in the mold of American televangelists.

  • The medicine is so simple in application and so easily available that it is served out almost automatically and indifferently, to every law-breaker; the pickpocket and the burglar are locked up next door to the clergyman at variance with his bishop; the weak-kneed and self-indulgent drunkard rubs shoulders with the political zealot who has endangered the peace of nations.

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Words near zealot in the Dictionary