In this paper, the microwave absorption behaviors of zinc oxide whisker were studied. The morphological structure of zinc oxide whisker was observed through scanning electron microscope. The effect of the structure of zinc oxide whisker on the microwave absorption, such as length-diameter ratio, cross-section appearance, and doping was analyzed. The result shows that the more irregular the cross section of the needle of zinc oxide whisker is, the more prominent the microwave absorption appears. The less the length-diameter ratio of the needle of zinc oxide whisker is, the more obvious the microwave absorption of zinc oxide whisker becomes. The zinc oxide whisker, which had inlet ion, such as Al3+, Fe3+, etc., in its crystal lattice has a better microwave absorption efficiency than the pure zinc oxide whisker. The further analysis found that electric conductive network can be formed easily because of the zinc oxide whisker, and the coating had the porous structure. When microwave reaches the coating of zinc oxide whisker, the polarization of zinc oxide whisker was resulted and the electromagnetic energy lost. Firstly, electric current was transmitted through the electric conductive network and the energy transformed to heat. Secondly, tips' phenomenon has been observed, which lead to the energy lost. Finally, the microwave energy was lost because of the tunnel effect, which will bring about leakage current. Based on the three reasons above, microwave energy was absorbed by the coating containing the zinc oxide whisker.