different between bright vs zealous

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: br?t, IPA^(key): /b?a?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t

Etymology 1

The adjective is derived from Middle English bright (“giving off much light; of colour or light: brilliant, intense; brightly lit; gleaming, shining; glorious, resplendent; of a person: beautiful, fair, rosy; wonderful; clear; of eyesight: keen; (figuratively) free from sin; enlightened”) [and other forms], from Old English bryht, breht (Northumbrian), a metathetic variant of byrht (Anglian), beorht (West Saxon), berht (“bright, clear”) [and other forms] from Proto-West Germanic *berht, from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz (“bright, shining”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *b?ereg- (“to gleam, whiten”), *b?erH?- (“to shine”).

The noun is derived from Middle English bright (“brightness, brilliance; daylight; light”), from bright (adjective): see above.

The English word is cognate with Albanian bardhë (“white”), Dutch brecht (in personal names), Icelandic bjartur (“bright”), Lithuanian brekšta (“to dawn”), Middle Irish brafad (“blink of an eye”), Norwegian bjart (“bright, clear, shining”), Persian ???????? (barâzidan, “to beautify; to befit”), Russian ????????? (brézžit?, “to dawn; to flicker faintly, glimmer; (figuratively) of a hope, thought, etc.: to begin to manifest, emerge”), Sanskrit ??????? (bhr?jate), Scots bricht (“bright”), Welsh berth (“beautiful, fair, fine”) (obsolete).

Adjective

bright (comparative brighter, superlative brightest)

1. Emitting much light; visually dazzling; luminous, lucent, radiant.
2. Of light: brilliant, intense.
3. Of an object, surface, etc.: reflecting much light; having a high lustre; gleaming, shiny.

   Synonyms: lustrous; see also Thesaurus:shiny

   Antonym: dull

4. Of a place: not dark; well-lit.
5. Of climate or weather: not cloudy or gloomy; fair; also, of a period of time, the sky, etc.: characterized by much sunshine and good weather.
6. (figuratively)
   1. Of a colour: not muted or pale; bold, brilliant, vivid.
   2. Of an object, surface, etc.: having vivid colour(s); colourful.
   3. Of a musical instrument, sound, or a voice: clearly audible; clear, resounding, and often high-pitched.
   4. Of a room or other place: having acoustic qualities that tend to cause much echoing or reverberation of sound, particularly at high frequencies.
   5. Of a scent or taste: not bland or mild; bold, sharp, strong.
   6. Of a substance: clear, transparent; also, pure, unadulterated; (specifically) of wine: free of suspended particles; not cloudy; fine.
   7. Glorious; illustrious.
   8. In good spirits; happy, optimistic.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:happy

      Antonyms: see Thesaurus:sad
   9. Of the face or eyes, or a smile: showing happiness or hopefulness; cheerful, lively.
   10. Of a person: lively, vivacious.
   11. Of a period of history or time: happy, prosperous, successful.
   12. Of an opportunity or outlook: having a reasonable chance of success; favourable, good.

   13. Of conversation, writing, etc.: imaginative or sparkling with wit; clever, witty.
   14. Having a clear, quick intellect; intelligent.

       Synonyms: see Thesaurus:intelligent

       Antonyms: see Thesaurus:stupid
   15. (archaic)
       1. Of the eyes: able to see clearly; of eyesight: keen, sharp.
       2. Manifest to the mind as light is to the eyes; clear, evident, plain.
   16. (music) Of a rhythm or tempo: lively, upbeat.
7. (metallurgy) Of a metal object or surface: lacking any protective coating or surface treatment for the prevention of corrosion.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Word formation verb -en noun -ness

Noun

bright (plural brights)

1. (archaic or literary)
   1. Brightness, glow.
   2. (figuratively) Glory, splendour.
2. (chiefly in the plural) Something (especially a product intended for sale) that has vivid colours or a lustrous appearance.
3. A person with a naturalistic worldview with no mystical or supernatural elements.

   Synonyms: humanist, nonsupernaturalist

   Antonyms: super, supernaturalist

   Hyponym: atheist
4. (painting) An artist's brush used in acrylic and oil painting with a long ferrule and a flat, somewhat tapering bristle head.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English brighte (“brightly; (figuratively) brilliantly, lustrously; of colour: boldly, vividly; clearly, distinctly; of voice: loudly”) [and other forms], from Old English breohte, beorhte (West Saxon) [and other forms], ultimately from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz (“bright, shining”); see further at etymology 1.

Adverb

bright (comparative more bright, superlative most bright)

1. (often literary) In a bright manner; brightly, glowingly, luminously, lustrously.
2. (figuratively)
   1. Referring to colour: with bold or vivid colours; brightly, boldly, vividly.
   2. (archaic) Referring to sight, sound, understanding, etc.: clearly, distinctly; brightly.

Derived terms

• bright and early

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English brighten (“to illuminate; to become light, dawn; (figuratively) to cleanse, purify; to clarify, explain”) [and other forms], from Old English beorhtian (“to brighten, shine; to sound clearly or loudly”) [and other forms], probably from beorht (“bright, clear”, adjective) (see further at etymology 1) + -ian (suffix forming verbs from adjectives and nouns). Later uses of the word are probably also derived from the adjective.

Verb

bright (third-person singular simple present brights, present participle brighting, simple past and past participle brighted) (chiefly Britain, dialectal)

1. (transitive) Often followed by up: to cast light on (someone or something); to brighten, to illuminate.
2. (transitive, figuratively) Often followed by up: to cause (someone or something) to be bright (in various senses); to brighten; specifically, to make (someone or something) energetic, or happy and optimistic.

   Synonyms: (to cause to be bright) embrighten, (to make energetic) enliven, delight, gladden, (to make happy) please
3. (intransitive, also figuratively) Often followed by up: to become bright (in various senses); to brighten.

Conjugation

Translations

References

Further reading

• brightness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Brights movement on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• bright (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Alternative forms

• zelous

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ????? (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”), from ????? (z?ló?, “to emulate, to be jealous”). Doublet of jealous.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?z?l.?s/
• Rhymes: -?l?s
• Hyphenation: zeal?ous

Adjective

zealous (comparative more zealous, superlative most zealous)

1. Full of zeal; ardent, fervent; exhibiting enthusiasm or strong passion.
   • 1791, James Boswell, The life of Samuel Johnson, new ed. (1831) by John Wilson Croker, volume 1, page 238:

     Johnson was truly zealous for the success of "The Adventurer;" and very soon after his engaging in it, he wrote the following letter:

   • 1896, Andrew Dickson White, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (2004 edition), page 122:

     Doubtless many will exclaim against the Roman Catholic Church for this; but the simple truth is that Protestantism was no less zealous against the new scientific doctrine.

   • 1940, Foster Rhea Dulles, America Learns to Play: A history of popular recreation, 1607-1940, page 61:

     […] and there were few more zealous dancers at the fashionable balls in the Raleigh Tavern at Williamsburg.

   • 2011 April 4, "Newt Gingrich," Time (retrieved 9 Sept 2013):

     Newt Gingrich . . . left Congress in 1998, following GOP midterm-election losses that many blamed on his zealous pursuit of Bill Clinton's impeachment.

Synonyms

• (full of zeal): ardent, eager, enthusiastic, fervent, passionate, zealotic

Antonyms

• (full of zeal): apathetic, dispassionate, indifferent, unenthusiastic

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations