Meaning & use
zen
Calm, relaxed, and free from stress or anxious thoughts, in a mindful and accepting way.
See it in a sentence
After weeks of yoga, she felt much more zen about the upcoming deadline.
He stayed remarkably zen even as the flight delays kept piling up.
A note on using this word
This informal adjective sense derives from Zen Buddhism but is used loosely in everyday speech to mean simply calm and unbothered.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
anxiousstressed
Another way to use it
2. noun
A school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing meditation and direct insight over scripture study.
He studied Zen for years at a monastery in Japan before teaching meditation himself.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “zen”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.