Sisyphus

[ sis-uh-fuhs ]

nounClassical Mythology.
  1. a son of Aeolus and ruler of Corinth, noted for his trickery: he was punished in Tartarus by being compelled to roll a stone to the top of a slope, the stone always escaping him near the top and rolling down again.

Origin of Sisyphus

1
From Latin Sisyphus, from Greek Sísyphos; probably of pre-Greek origin

Words Nearby Sisyphus

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How to use Sisyphus in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Sisyphus

Sisyphus

/ (ˈsɪsɪfəs) /


noun
  1. Greek myth a king of Corinth, punished in Hades for his misdeeds by eternally having to roll a heavy stone up a hill: every time he approached the top, the stone escaped his grasp and rolled to the bottom

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Sisyphus

Sisyphus

[ (sis-uh-fuhs) ]


A king in classical mythology who offended Zeus and was punished in Hades by being forced to roll an enormous boulder to the top of a steep hill. Every time the boulder neared the top, it would roll back down, and Sisyphus would have to start over.

Notes for Sisyphus

A difficult and futile endeavor may be called a “labor of Sisyphus” or a “Sisyphean task.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.