Definition of ZEALOT

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In the 1st century A.D., a fanatical sect arose in Judaea to oppose the Roman domination of Palestine. Known as the Zealots, they fought their most famous battle at the great fortress of Masada, where 1,000 defenders took their own lives just as the Romans were about to storm the fort. Over the years, zealot came to mean anyone who is passionately devoted to a cause. The adjective zealous may describe someone who's merely dedicated and energetic ("a zealous investigator", "zealous about combating inflation", etc.). But zealot (like its synonym fanatic) and zealotry (like its synonym fanaticism) are used disapprovingly—even while Jews everywhere still honor the memory of those who died at Masada.

Examples of zealot in a Sentence

zealots on both sides of the issue resorted to name-calling and scare tactics

Recent Examples on the Web

Venkaiah Naidu, the Indian vice president who referred to English as a disease, is from a southern state but nevertheless is a Hindi zealot. — WSJ, "India’s Hindi Zealots Should Show Humility," 25 Sep. 2018 Some of the anti-Trump zealots are now claiming that the Russians actually swung the election. — Fox News, "Will Giuliani's press tour help or hurt the president?," 31 July 2018 Hundreds have been killed by zealots and their places of worship have been targeted; thousands more have fled Pakistan. — Fox News, "In Pakistan's elections, minorities face daunting challenge," 23 July 2018 Good both for Instagram addicts and flat Earth zealots. — Vlad Savov, The Verge, "A ticket on Jeff Bezos’ space tourism rocket will cost at least $200,000," 13 July 2018 Donald Trump’s election and his choice of zealot privatizer Betsy DeVos as U.S. secretary of education bolstered reformers but has also made more Americans wary. — Valerie Strauss, Washington Post, "What and who is fueling the movement to privatize public education — and why you should care," 30 May 2018 People don’t know how to confront these evils, which come in nearly every direction, in the form of theological zealots, demagogic populists, avowed racists, and trollish misogynists. — Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, "The Death of the Public Square," 6 July 2018 Despite what the zealots say, there’s lots of data suggesting humans can survive — and even thrive — on myriad eating patterns. — Julia Belluz, Vox, "This Mediterranean diet study was hugely impactful. The science just fell apart.," 20 June 2018 In Onion’s telling, John Brown is a wild-eyed zealot, a cartoonish madman who talks like Yosemite Sam and prays for hours on end but whose madness and prayers are nevertheless devoted to the abolition of slavery. — WSJ, "Randall Fuller," 1 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'zealot.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.