ZnTe thin films with thickness around 2 kÅ have been deposited by thermal evaporation method on ultrasonically cleaned glass substrates at different substrate temperatures under the pressure of 5  10-6 Torr. The structural and optical characterizations of the films were carried out using XRD technique and UV-VIS-IR spectroscopy respectively. The grain size in films increase with increase in substrate temperature. The grain size (D), strain (), dislocation density (ρ) and lattice constant (a) were calculated and results are discussed in detail. The optical bandgap (Eg), as determined from the absorption spectra and also indicates direct band to band transitions.