A focus of the current nanotechnology has shifted from routine fabrication of nanostructures to designing functional electronic devices and realizing their immense potentials for applications. Due to infusion of multifunctionality into a single system, the utilization of hetero-, core/shell and hierarchical nanostructures has become the key issue for building such devices. ZnS, due to its direct wide bandgap, high index of refraction, high transparency in the visible range and intrinsic polarity, is one of the most useful semiconductors for a wide range of electronics applications. This article provides a dense review of the state-of-the-art research activities in one-dimensional (1D) ZnS-based hetero-, core/shell and hierarchical nanostructures. The particular emphasis is put on their syntheses and applications.