zealot.

1. A person marked by intense, often uncompromising devotion to a belief or cause.

2. A member of a Jewish movement opposed to Roman rule in the first century CE.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a reforming zealot
• a religious zealot

On the page

The zealot heard compromise as surrender rather than negotiation.

She admired his dedication while resisting the zealot’s certainty that only one route was honorable.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychological / character. Forms: Singular zealot; plural zealots. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.