Augean

[aw-jee-uh n]

adjective

resembling the Augean stables in filthiness or degradation.

difficult and unpleasant: an Augean chore.

Origin of Augean

1590–1600; < Latin Augē(us) of Augeas (Greek Augeí(ās) + -us adj. suffix) + -an

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for augean

Contemporary Examples of augean

I had to chase the chickens back into the coop and close the door so I could finish with the Augean Stables of the chicken pen.
What Did TJ Mean By “Pursuit of Happiness,” Anyway?
P. J. O’Rourke
June 8, 2014

Historical Examples of augean

Rather than meddle with them, I would give the Augean stables a second clean-out.
The Works of Lucian of Samosata, v. 4
Lucian of Samosata
But while there is life in a young patient there is always hope, and we at once set to work on our Augean task.
A Labrador Doctor
Wilfred Thomason Grenfell
Not that he abandoned his determination to cleanse his Augean stables.
Kophetua the Thirteenth
Julian Corbett
By sheer persistence and strength to enforce her commands, she had brought about a cleansing nothing short of Augean.
A Woman's Burden
Fergus Hume
His mind was very far from his official duties and the mass of reminders before him—this Augean stable of arrears.
The Snare
Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for augean

Augean

adjective

extremely dirty or corrupt

Word Origin for Augean

C16: after Augeas; see Augean stables

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

Word Origin and History for augean

Augean

adj.

"filthy," 1590s, in reference to Augean stable, the cleansing of which was one of the labors of Herakles, from Greek Augeias, like the stable of Augeas, king of Elis, which contained 3,000 oxen and had gone uncleansed for 30 years. Herakles purified it in one day by turning the river Alpheus through it.