Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

zany

adj. 1 clownish, mad, wild, frolicsome, sportive, playful, gay,

merry, slapstick, crazy, funny, comic(al), amusing, hilarious,

absurd, nonsensical, ludicrous, silly, foolish, inane, Colloq

wacky, loony, madcap, crackpot, nutty, goofy, US kooky: The

buskers put on the zaniest show I have seen for some time.

--n. 2 clown, comic, jester, fool, joker, buffoon, wag,

comedian, merry andrew, laughing-stock, Slang nut, US screwball:

The two zanies kept the crowd in stitches while the pickpockets

stole their wallets.

zap

v. destroy, kill, slaughter, annihilate, murder, slay,

assassinate, liquidate, erase; shoot, electrocute, Slang rub

out, polish off, knock off, bump off, snuff (out), waste, hit,

US ice: The baddies got zapped by the ray gun, one after the

other.

zealotry

n. fanaticism, extremism, radicalism, bigotry, militantism,

terrorism, single-mindedness, monomania, fervour, frenzy,

hysteria, obsession, obsessiveness: Their attacks on innocent

civilians show how far their zealotry can take them.

zenith

n. meridian, summit, acme, apex, vertex, apogee, high point,

top, peak, pinnacle: The dictator reached the zenith of his

power very quickly.

zero

n. 1 nil, null, nothing, nought or naught, aught, cipher,

nebbish, bupkis: That fellow she married is a real zero.

--v. 4 zero in on. focus on, pinpoint, fix on, home in on,

concentrate on, bring to bear on: We zeroed in on the problem

and then rapidly found the answer.

zest

n. 1 spice, relish, gusto, tang, pepper, ginger, piquancy,

pungency, edge, bite, flavour, Colloq zing, zip, pizazz: Put in

a little of my home-made sauce to add some zest. 2 eagerness,

zestfulness, exuberance, appetite, interest, enthusiasm, hunger,

thirst: Where does Sidney get his zest for life?

zone

n. area, quarter, district, region, sector, section, sphere,

belt, territory, province, realm, domain, precinct, bailiwick,

department, terrain, circle, locality, locale, Slang US turf: A

duty-free zone will allow for quicker transshipment of goods.

The northern and southern hemispheres each have a frigid,

temperate, and torrid zone.

zoo

n. 1 zoological garden, menagerie, Tiergarten, (safari) park:

When I was a child, I enjoyed going to the zoo almost as much as

I do now. 2 madhouse, mess; chaos, pandemonium, bedlam, Colloq

US three-ring circus, Chinese fire-drill: When my husband and

the three children get ready in the morning the kitchen is like

a zoo.