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.
“Hope” brings to mind several genre classics, from “Jaws” and John Carpenter movies like “The Thing,” to something more homegrown such as Bong Joon Ho’s “The Host.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2026
In defending the inviolable status of Hollywood classics, Siskel and Ebert were taking a stand against messing with cultural artifacts.
From Salon • May 8, 2026
Forty-five years old, tall and strikingly handsome, Sumner was the consummate New England intellectual: widely traveled, deeply versed in classics and the law, and staunchly committed to the cause of African-Americans.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026
But while other classics come and go and jockey for position, a reliable fixture among the top 10—for the past four polls and 34 years—has been “Tokyo Story” by Yasujirō Ozu.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
Every town in Massachusetts had a grammar school, and from the age of eight, pupils there would be taught the classics from eight in the morning until dark fell.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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.
