classics
Britishplural noun
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a body of literature regarded as great or lasting, esp that of ancient Greece or Rome
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the ancient Greek and Latin languages
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(functioning as singular) ancient Greek and Roman culture considered as a subject for academic study
Explanation
In awe of Zeus, Antigone, and Hercules? Spend your days debating the philosophy of Plato and Cicero? Then you are a lover of the classics — the literary works of Ancient Greece or Rome. Some people choose to major in French, math or biology. Others take classes in the classics, since they are crazy for learning about the roots of western civilization. The classics include Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, poetry, theater, epic tales, and mythology. Much like a movie that is considered classic, because it can be appreciated over time, the classics of Ancient Greece and Rome have been appreciated ever since — well, ever since the days of Ancient Greece and Rome. Notice that the word the often comes before classics.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They read by genre or the latest releases or the classics or audiobooks.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Inspired by football culture on and off the pitch, the collections mix archive classics with streetwear staples.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
Soon after, her pilot for a “sapphic murder story” inspired by “Killing Eve” netted her 22 pitch meetings — the first was with director Sam Raimi, whose early-career “Evil Dead” movies are beloved cult classics.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
A listing of influential movies we published last month was largely based on box-office receipts and included films that became cult classics.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
On the beams of his library he had painted sixty or so quotations from the classics, all emphasizing the vanity of human life and of human aspirations to knowledge.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
