Damocles

[dam-uh-kleez]

noun

1. a flatterer who, having extolled the happiness of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, was seated at a banquet with a sword suspended over his head by a single hair to show him the perilous nature of that happiness.

Damocles

/ ˈdæməˌkliːz /

noun

1. classical myth a sycophant forced by Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, to sit under a sword suspended by a hair to demonstrate that being a king was not the happy state Damocles had said it was See also Sword of Damocles

Other Word Forms

• Damoclean adjective

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. sword of Damocles, any situation threatening imminent harm or disaster.