zealous
/ˈzɛləs/
"zealous" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“zealous” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,529 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #29,529
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Full of zeal; ardent, fervent; exhibiting enthusiasm or strong passion, particularly in matters of religion.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | zealous |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈzɛləs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #29,529 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “zealous” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for zealous is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈzɛləs/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,529 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Full of zeal; ardent, fervent; exhibiting enthusiasm or strong passion, particularly in matters of religion.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for zealous, with forms such as "ezalous", "zaelous", and "zeallous". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English zelose, from Latin zēlōsus, from zēlus + -ōsus, from Ancient Greek ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”), from ζηλόω (zēlóō, “to emulate, to be jealous”). By surface analysis, zeal + -ous. Doublet of jealous. The correct English form is zealous, spelled Z-E-A-L-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Full of zeal; ardent, fervent; exhibiting enthusiasm or strong passion, particularly in matters of religion.
Etymology
From Middle English zelose, from Latin zēlōsus, from zēlus + -ōsus, from Ancient Greek ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”), from ζηλόω (zēlóō, “to emulate, to be jealous”). By surface analysis, zeal + -ous. Doublet of jealous.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ezalous,zaelous,zeallous,zealosu,zealouss,zealuos,zeaolus,zelaous,zzealous
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of zealous - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “zealous”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is Z-E-A-L-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈzɛləs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.