Question

In this sentence from "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell, what does the word zealous mean in these lines?

Even so zealous a hunter as General Zaroff could not trace him there, he told himself; only the devil himself could follow that complicated trail through the jungle after dark.

Answer 1

We can look at the context of the passage and see how the word "zealous" is used.

"Even so zealous a hunter... could not trace him here" makes it seem like the quality of being "zealous" would help General Zaroff to trace the main character, but it would also not be enough to actually catch him. And then the sentence goes on to say that the trail is very complicated and dark to support this point.

So, what quality could "zealous" mean, in that case? It's something that might push General Zaroff and motivate him into chasing the main character, but not enough to actually catch him. What might fit in this context?

Answer 2

To give you another example, I might be a very "zealous" gamer; so, every chance I get, I'm playing Fortnite, I'm playing League--I'm so "zealous" that I'm playing 12+ hours a day, for example--but maybe I just suck at the game. Or maybe my internet is bad or my computer is too old, so I can't actually win. The point is, I have something that I really enjoy, and I actively seek out the chance to do that activity, which makes me "zealous", but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm actually good enough at that activity to succeed.
Maybe that makes the difference a bit more clear.