ZnO particles with a bottle-like morphology were synthesized by direct melt oxidation of a source material mixed with Al, Zn, and Au in air at atmospheric pressure. The particles were synthesized when the source material contained Au. Without Au, only ZnO particles with a tetrapod shape were identified. The bottle-shaped particles consisted of a well-defined hexagonal faceted micro-rod stem and a bottleneck. It is proposed that the bottle-shaped morphology forms through a vapor-solid growth mechanism as no catalyst was used during the synthesis process.