zestful

comparative more zestful · superlative most zestful

1. Full of zest.
   1. Of food, or an aroma or flavour: pleasantly piquant, pungent, or spicy; zesty.

      Antonyms: unzestful, zestless

   2. figurativelyEager, enthusiastic.

      [T]he former priest, by now habituated to military life, and even zestful for it, enlisted under the new young king, with the rank of captain.

      1968, Donald Barthelme, “The Dolt”, in Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →OCLC, page 66

      1 more example

      [T]here 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 (about a third of the entire population) caught in the net of its all too ample boundaries.

      1933 September, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Versailles: Seed Bed of Disasters”, in The Shape of Things to Come, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, 1st book (Today and Tomorrow: The Age of Frustration Dawns), page 86

      Synonyms: animated, ardent, avid, big [⇒ thesaurus] [on], bubbly, eager, earnest, ebullient · Antonyms: unzestful, zestless

   3. figurativelyHaving a spirited love of life; ebullient, zesty.

      1 more example

      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.

      1957, Arthur W[illiam] Upfield, “Balancing Results”, in Bony Buys a Woman, Stockholm, Sweden: DigiCat, Storytel, published 2022

      Synonyms: abuzz, active, agile, airy, alive, animate, animated, brisk · Antonyms: unzestful, zestless