Damocles
a flatterer who, having extolled the happiness of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, was seated at a banquet with a sword suspended over his head by a single hair to show him the perilous nature of that happiness.
Idioms about Damocles
sword of Damocles, any situation threatening imminent harm or disaster.
Other words from Damocles
- Dam·o·cle·an [dam-uh-klee-uhn], /ˌdæm əˈkli ən/, adjective
Words Nearby Damocles
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use Damocles in a sentence
Then as now, the majority of Americans had little interest in examining the nuclear sword of Damocles their fear had wrought.
How a War-Weary Vet Created ‘The Twilight Zone’ | Rich Goldstein | November 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOf course, if we can mix our classical references, Russia has its Sword of Damocles to cut this Gordian Knot.
Did he understand that he would now have to live with a sword—not of Damocles but of polonium—hanging over his head?
The United States insists that the option of force—a sword of Damocles—be included in any Security Council resolution.
But that particular sword of Damocles has floated off into the ether.
The sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, to make them remember.
Space Prison | Tom GodwinAnd Damocles knew the sword was there, or there'd have been no point in it.
Tristram of Blent | Anthony HopeThe fabled sword of Damocles hangs suspended over my head, still it may never fall.
A Dreadful Temptation | Mrs. Alex. McVeigh MillerHe alludes to the story of Damocles, a flatterer of one of those Sicilian tyrants, namely Dionysius.
Dryden's Works (13 of 18): Translations; Pastorals | John DrydenThe Damocles' sword of defiant authority was suspended over the head of every Russian writer.
Contemporary Russian Novelists | Serge Persky
British Dictionary definitions for Damocles
/ (ˈdæməˌkliːz) /
classical myth a sycophant forced by Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, to sit under a sword suspended by a hair to demonstrate that being a king was not the happy state Damocles had said it was: See also Sword of Damocles
Derived forms of Damocles
- Damoclean, adjective
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
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