athlete

American  

[ath-leet] / ˈæθ lit /

noun

• athletes
  plural

1. a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.

---

athlete British  

/ ˈæθliːt /

noun

1. a person trained to compete in sports or exercises involving physical strength, speed, or endurance

2. a person who has a natural aptitude for physical activities

3. a competitor in track and field events

---

Pronunciation

Athlete, athletic, and athletics, normally pronounced , , and , are heard frequently with an epenthetic schwa, an intrusive unstressed vowel inserted between the first and second syllables: , , and . The pronunciations containing the extra syllable are usually considered nonstandard, in spite of their widespread use on radio and television. Pronunciations with similarly intrusive vowels are also heard, though with less currency, for other words, as for film, for elm, and for arthritis, rather than the standard , , and .

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonathlete
  noun
• superathlete
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• athletes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of athlete

1520–30; < Latin āthlēta < Greek āthlētḗs, equivalent to āthlē- (variant stem of āthleîn to contend for a prize, derivative of âthlos a contest) + -tēs suffix of agency

Explanation

An athlete is someone who trains for and competes in sporting events, as a professional or just for fun, like an athlete who bowls on a team, runs in local 5K races, or wins a gold medal at the Olympics. The noun athlete comes from the Greek word athletes, meaning “contestant in the games.” Anyone who competes in sporting competitions can be called an athlete, but usually the term is reserved for people with a high level of dedication, skill and fitness. If your income comes from participating in your sport, you are a professional athlete.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

athlete athletes

Even then, any marginal benefits are only under certain circumstances, such as if you’re an athlete or in the army.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

As a child, Niederhoffer was a standout student, musician and athlete whose sports included handball, paddleball and tennis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

From the minute an athlete wakes, to the moment they go to bed, they are thinking about how they can optimise their performance and recovery.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

But for a young athlete growing up in Canada, where the most-popular sports take place on ice, it was a deal-breaker.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The Dinka admired him as much as any American sports fans look up to an athlete who scores a touchdown or hits a home run.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau

However, there were fewer colds for athletes and army personnel.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

"Since I am the first I feel a great responsibility to pave the way for other women athletes who love playing games as much as I do," said Park, who majored in taekwondo in college.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

The hypocrisy of not paying athletes exasperated jurists all the way to the Supreme Court, and the old cabal crumbled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

"He was very skinny and there was a significant physical disparity between him and the other athletes in his age group," his long-time personal trainer Rodrigo Goncalves told BBC Sport.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

It was about traveling to Rio with all the other American athletes and experiencing the excitement of the Olympic Village.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

Related Words

• animal
• competitor
• contestant
• jock
• player
• professional
• sport