zealous

enthusiastically supportive

TRANSLATION

GOOGLE INDEX zealous: approximately 3,000,000 Google hits zealous = eifrig zeal = der Eifer zealot = der Fanatiker, der Zelot

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

The government in Lisbon has been ZEALOUS in following the Brussels/Berlin script by cutting spending and implementing reforms.

(BBC News)

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Hillary Clinton Receives Parking Ticket From ZEALOUS London Traffic Warden

(International Business Times)

Did you
know?

zealous
adjective

- feeling or showing strong and energetic support for a person, cause, etc.

(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

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Zealous is from the Medieval Latin zelosus "full of zeal" (also the source of the Italian zeloso and Spanish celoso) and from the ecclesiastical (of the church) Latin zelus by way of the French zele, which equates to the noun zeal. Zelus in turn is from the Greek zelos (ardour, rivalry, passion).

Zealot, a term for a fanatic, was first used by Titus Flavius Josephus, a first-century Romano-Jewish scholar, to describe the militant Jews in the War of 66-70. But the designation has come to refer to all who rebelled against Rome with force. Back then Zealot carried the connotation of one who was ready to go to extreme violence against Gentile (non-Jew) oppressors.

A related term is "jealous," an adjective that means to be angry or unhappy that someone has something that you want. It's no coincidence that jealous and zealous differ only in the first letter of the word.

They share the same root (Greek zelos and Latin zelus), but jealous evolved via the Old French "jalos" and Modern French "jaloux". The earliest usage was in more of a positive sense, such as a friendly rivalry. The biblical characterization of being intolerant of unfaithfulness eventually took over.

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SYNONYMS

ardent, devoted, eager, fanatical, fervent, gung-ho, keen passionate, rabid, spirited, wild-eyed

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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation


"The public viewing areas are always full of zealous fans during the World Cup."

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