Meaning & use
zeal
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
Great energy and strong eagerness for a cause, goal, or belief.
Grammar: Uncountable: with great zeal; not a zeal.
Patterns
- zeal for something
- with zeal
She threw herself into the project with great zeal.
The new teacher showed real zeal for her subject.
His zeal for reform impressed the whole committee.
noununcountabledisapproving
Excessive or fanatical enthusiasm, especially for a religious or political cause.
Grammar: Often carries a critical tone, as in religious zeal.
Patterns
- religious zeal
- missionary zeal
The leader's zeal frightened some of his followers.
They pursued the policy with almost missionary zeal.
Political zeal can make people refuse to listen to anyone.
Common combinations
- with zeal
- He tackled the cleaning with zeal.
- religious zeal
- The preacher spoke with religious zeal.
- missionary zeal
- She promoted recycling with missionary zeal.
- zeal for something
- The students showed a zeal for learning.
- reforming zeal
- The new mayor arrived with reforming zeal.
Synonyms and how they differ
- enthusiasm
- Enthusiasm is a general, friendly term, whereas zeal suggests intense, committed energy.
- fervor
- Fervor stresses burning emotion and is close to zeal, but often sounds more passionate than active.
- passion
- Passion can be about love or any strong interest, while zeal is usually about a cause.
- fanaticism
- Fanaticism is extreme, unreasonable zeal and is always critical.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: zeal or zeal?
zeal vs zeal
Do not confuse with seal or zeel; zeal is spelled with a z and means eagerness.
Practice
The volunteers cleaned the beach with great ___, working long after the others had gone home.
Choose one answer.
Zeal means strong eagerness, which fits people working hard and long. Doubt, boredom, and caution would not explain the extra effort.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “zeal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.