zeallessadj.
/ˈziːllᵻs/, U.S. /ˈzillᵻs/ Lacking zeal; devoid of enthusiasm for or devotion to a cause, belief, undertaking, etc.
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adjective] > lukewarm or lacking enthusiasm
coolOE
luke1340
tepid1513
lukewarmc1522
unearnest1542
spiritless1566
zeallessa1594
faint1596
unfiery1598
tepidous1607
Laodicean1633
heartless1636
unzealous1643
slight1660
unenthusiastic1805
teporous1821
coolish1850
ice-cool1891
demotivated1963
meh2007
a1594 R. Greenham Wks. (1612) 588 We may call to mind..how many heretofore christians..are now become zealelesse worldlings.
1613 H. Spelman De non temerandis Ecclesiis (1646) 30 O thou zealeless mortality.
1649 H. Hammond Christians Obligations vii. 174 That heartlesse zeallesse behaviour in this very house of God.
1844 Morning Chron. 31 May 5/3 Her missionaries are..not spiritless and zealless, but full of energy and hope.
1868 E. B. Pusey Serm. Pharisaism 15 A zealless, loveless, lifeless worship of God.
1946 E. A. Peers Fool of Love vi. 95 The arguments of faithless and zeal-less Christians.
2014 L. Sweet Well-Played Life Introd. 9 The world is filled with the living dead: joyless, passionless, zeal-less, lifeless Christians.
Derivatives
ˈzeallessness n. (also zealesness)
ΘΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [noun] > half-heartedness
faintness1398
faint-heart1580
faint-heartedness1580
halving1613
zeallessness1667
half-heartedness1670
1667 E. Waterhouse Short Narr. Fire London 65 Levity and Zealesness for Reformed Religion.
1921 Indiana (Pa.) Weekly Messenger 22 Sept. 5/2 Their zeallessness for God, religion and humanity.
2008 University Wire (Cambridge, Mass.) (Nexis) 22 Apr. Students themselves aren't to blame for this zeallessness, though.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.a1594