zestful

English

Etymology

zest + -ful

Adjective

zestful (comparative more zestful, superlative most zestful)

  1. Having a spirited love of life; ebullient.
    • 1957, Arthur Upfield, Bony Buys a Woman, London: Heinemann, 1967, Chapter 13, p. 117,
      Debonair youth! The spurs, the wide felt hat, the open shirt, the belt holding the array of small pouches, including a holstered revolver, the delight in the long stock-whip having a bright green silk cracker to produce loud reports, ranging from slow rifle fire to the rat-tat-tat of a machine-gun, all told the story of zestful youth.
  2. Eager, enthusiastic.
    • 1933, H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come, London: Hutchinson & Co., 1935, Book 1, § 10, p. 77,
      [] there appeared a narrowly patriotic government, which presently developed into an aggressive, vindictive and pitiless dictatorship, and set itself at once to the zestful persecution of the unfortunate ethnic minorities []
    • 1968, Donald Barthelme, “The Dolt” in Sixty Stories, New York: Dutton, 1982, p. 94,
      [] the former priest, by now habituated to military life, and even zestful for it, enlisted under the new young king, with the rank of captain.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.