Zest

//zɛst// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The outer skin of a citrus fruit, used as a flavouring or garnish. countable, uncountable

    "The orange zest gives the strong flavor in this dish."

  2. 2
    a tart spicy quality wordnet
  3. 3
    General vibrance of flavour. countable, uncountable

    "I add zest to the meat by rubbing it with a spice mixture before grilling."

  4. 4
    vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment wordnet
  5. 5
    Enthusiasm; keen enjoyment; relish; gusto. A state of being zesty. broadly, countable, uncountable

    "Auntie Mame had a real zest for life."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    The woody, thick skin enclosing the kernel of a walnut. countable, rare, uncountable

    "The green zest of walnuts was used by the women to shine their teeth and it also gave a beautiful rust colour to their lips."

  2. 7
    State of being a flamboyant or effeminate homosexual. countable, derogatory, slang, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To scrape the zest from a fruit.
  2. 2
    add herbs or spices to wordnet
  3. 3
    To make more zesty.

    "Strains ſo artleſs tho’ we proffer, Hearts o’er flowing zest the offer."

Synonyms

All synonyms
gustogustonippunchrelishtang

Example

More examples

"Wit gives zest to conversation."

Etymology

Borrowed from French zeste.

Related phrases

zest fest

More for "zest"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.