different between impatient vs zealous

English

Etymology

From Old French impacient (modern French impatient), from Latin impati?ns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?pe???nt/
• Hyphenation: im?pa?tient

Adjective

impatient (comparative more impatient, superlative most impatient)

1. Restless and intolerant of delays.

   • The impatient man will not give himself time to be informed of the matter that lies before him.

2. Anxious and eager, especially to begin something.
3. (obsolete) Not to be borne; unendurable.
4. Prompted by, or exhibiting, impatience.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, III. ii. 287:

     What, will you tear / Impatient answers from my gentle tongue?

Derived terms

• impatiently
• impatience
• impassive

Translations

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.pa.sj??/

Adjective

impatient (feminine singular impatiente, masculine plural impatients, feminine plural impatientes)

1. impatient

Noun

impatient m (plural impatients, feminine impatiente)

1. impatient person

Further reading

• “impatient” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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