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If someone is an aficionado of something, such as soccer, they like it and know a lot about it; therefore, they are a true fan of it.
When you have ardor for something, you have an intense feeling of love, excitement, and admiration for it.
An assiduous person works hard to ensure that something is done properly and completely.
If you are avid about something, you are excited about and eager to do it.
If you demur, you delay in doing or mildly object to something because you don’t really want to do it.
Desiderata are a wish list of things that are considered highly desirable or necessary to have.
Someone or something that is dilatory is slow and causes delay.
An animal or person that is docile is not aggressive; rather, they are well-behaved, quiet, and easy to control.
Someone who is ebullient is filled with enthusiasm, very happy, and extremely excited about something.
If something enthralls you, it makes you so interested and excited that you give it all your attention.
If you show exuberance, you display great excitement, energy, and enthusiasm.
Fanaticism is the condition of being overly enthusiastic or eager about a cause to the point of being extreme and unreasonable about it.
Febrile behavior is full of nervous energy and activity; a sick person can be febrile as well, that is, feverish or hot.
A fervid person has strong feelings about something, such as a humanitarian cause; therefore, they are very sincere and enthusiastic about it.
Frenetic activity is done quickly with lots of energy but is also uncontrolled and disorganized; someone who is in a huge hurry often displays this type of behavior.
When you are impassioned about a cause or idea, you are very passionate or highly emotionally charged about it.
If you describe someone as importunate, you think that they are annoying and unreasonable because they keep trying to get something from you.
If someone is indefatigable, they never show signs of getting tired.
If you are indifferent about something, you are uninterested or neutral about it, not caring either in a positive or negative way.
Someone who is irresolute is unable to decide what to do.
Someone who is jaded has become bored with or weary of the world because they have had too much experience with it.
Lassitude is a state of tiredness, lack of energy, and having little interest in what’s going on around you.
If you are lethargic, you are tired, lack energy, and are unwilling to exert effort.
When you are listless, you lack energy and interest and are unwilling to exert any effort.
Malaise is a feeling of discontent, general unease, or even illness in a person or group for which there does not seem to be a quick and easy solution because the cause of it is not clear.
Someone who is phlegmatic stays calm and unemotional even in dangerous or exciting situations.
To be punctilious is to pay precise attention to detail.
A recalcitrant animal or person is difficult to control and refuses to obey orders—even after stiff punishment.
Someone who is sedulous works hard and performs tasks very carefully and thoroughly, not stopping their work until it is completely accomplished.
If your body is affected by torpor, you are severely lacking in energy; therefore, you are idle—and can even be numb.
If you are unflagging while doing a task, you are untiring when working upon it and do not stop until it is finished.
A thing or person that is unremitting is persistent and enduring in what is being done.
When you have a vehement feeling about something, you feel very strongly or intensely about it.
Adj.
zealous
ZEL-uhs
Context
Zacchariah, a zealous and highly enthusiastic soccer fan, wore his team colors from head to toe every game—even his face was painted green and blue! This fully dedicated and zealous sports fan could be seen running up and down the sidelines every game, earnestly yelling out passionate pleas for his team to score. The only person who did not appreciate Zacchariah’s fired-up nature was Zacchariah Jr., the team’s goalie, who found his father’s zeal and excessive enthusiasm rather embarrassing.
Quiz:Try again!
What action might a zealous person take?
Someone who is zealous spends a lot of time, energy, and effort to support something—notably that of a political or religious nature—because they believe in it very strongly.
Neil's Seal Zeal Neil has zeal for seals! He has fifty pet seals, all honking around his house. All his spare money goes towards supporting seals, making Neil's seal zeal legendary.
Examples
While the converted are often the most zealous agents for change, one Alabama resident who triumphed against the scale finds the state requirements somewhat troubling.
—
WebMD
These zealous wizards handed Xerox an astounding lead in information technology in the early 1980s, but by the end of the decade, Xerox watched as upstarts like Apple and Microsoft grew wealthy off Xerox’s discoveries.
—
Wired
Other cities also face tension over a lack of adequate parking, but officials say they don’t endorse the use of specific performance targets because they can lead to overly zealous ticket writing.
—
Washington Post
A zealous person is “full of eager rivalry” in regards to competition, and “has fierceness” when it comes to supporting a cause or something one truly believes in.
Word Theater
SpongeBob SquarePants Fred enthusiastically breaks into song to urge everyone to try his wonderful new sandwich.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
Word Constellation
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Related Words
aficionado ·
ardor ·
assiduous ·
avid+ ·
desiderata ·
ebullient ·
enthrall ·
exuberance ·
fanaticism+ ·
febrile ·
fervid ·
frenetic ·
impassioned+ ·
importunate ·
indefatigable ·
punctilious ·
sedulous ·
unflagging ·
unremitting ·
vehement ·
demur ·
dilatory ·
docile ·
indifferent+ ·
irresolute ·
jaded+ ·
lassitude ·
lethargic ·
listless ·
malaise ·
phlegmatic ·
recalcitrant ·
torpor ·
Similar sense
Opposite sense
Word Variants
zeal
n
→
enthusiasm for a cause
zealot
n
→
one who is overly enthusiastic for a cause
The section lists important variants and alternate definitions of the headword. Knowing variants will often help you both remember and understand the word. Not all variants are listed - only the ones we think that are important for you to know.
