Cyclopean

[ sahy-kluh-pee-uhn, sahy-klop-ee-uhn ]

See synonyms for Cyclopean on Thesaurus.com

adjective

of or characteristic of the Cyclops.
(sometimes lowercase) gigantic; vast.

(usually lowercase)Architecture, Building Trades. formed with or containing large, undressed stones fitted closely together without the use of mortar: a cyclopean wall.

Origin of Cyclopean

First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin Cyclōpē(us), from Greek Kyklṓpeios (equivalent to Kýklōp(s) + -eios adjective suffix) + -an; see Cyclops, -eous,-an

Words Nearby Cyclopean

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Cyclopean in a sentence

At the extremity of the cavern, which was oblong, rose a Cyclopean archivolte, singularly exact in form.
Toilers of the Sea | Victor Hugo
The Cyclopean doors that we hung, with sliding bolts fit to be “the mast of some great admiral”!
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce | Ambrose Bierce
Most of the Mycenaean walls, on the other hand, are of "Cyclopean" style, in large irregular blocks.
Homer and His Age | Andrew Lang
His speeches were Cyclopean cries, at the sight of the truth breaking, like the sun, on his mind.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. VII, December 1850, Vol. II | Various
The masonry is of different character from that Cyclopean piling of boulders which was all the earlier men had known of building.
The Cornwall Coast | Arthur L. Salmon

British Dictionary definitions for Cyclopean

Cyclopean

/ (ˌsaɪkləʊˈpiːən, saɪˈkləʊpɪən) /

adjective

of, relating to, or resembling the Cyclops
denoting, relating to, or having the kind of masonry used in preclassical Greek architecture, characterized by large dry undressed blocks of stone

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

Browse