Alexander the Great

American  

noun

1. 356–323 b.c., king of Macedonia 336–323: conqueror of Greek city-states and of the Persian empire from Asia Minor and Egypt to India.

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Alexander the Great British  

noun

1. 356–323 _bc , king of Macedon, who conquered Greece (336), Egypt (331), and the Persian Empire (328), and founded Alexandria

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Alexander the Great Cultural  

1. A ruler of Greece in the fourth century b.c. As a general, he conquered most of the ancient world, extending the civilization of Greece east to India. Alexander is said to have wept because there were no worlds left to conquer. In Alexander's youth, the philosopher Aristotle was his tutor.

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Before beginning his conquests, Alexander allegedly unloosed the Gordian knot by cutting through it. It was believed that the person who unfastened the Gordian knot would rule a vast territory in Asia. Alexander founded the city of Alexandria, which became a great center of learning in Egypt (see also Egypt).

Example Sentences

Inhabited since the time of Alexander the Great, it now has little civilian presence left.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026

In recent weeks, he’s been talking to other people about Napoleon and Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, comparing himself to the most consequential Western leaders in history.

From Slate • May 7, 2026

He has inhaled from somewhere — certainly not from studying history — an immensely dumbed-down version of the philosophy that he imagines drove Napoleon and Hitler, and perhaps Alexander the Great and Peter the Great.

From Salon • Feb. 23, 2025

The man who would become Alexander the Great was born in July 356 B.C. and inherited the Macedonian throne two decades later.

From National Geographic • Feb. 8, 2024

She put aside the thriller and the book about Alexander the Great, hesitated—and picked up the Odyssey.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke