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View synonyms for epic

epic

[ ep-ik ]

adjective

  1. noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style:

    Homer's Iliad is an epic poem.

  2. resembling or suggesting such poetry:

    an epic novel on the founding of the country.

  3. heroic; majestic; impressively great:

    the epic events of the war.

  4. of unusually great size or extent:

    a crime wave of epic proportions.

  5. Slang. very impressive; spectacular; awesome:

    Their burgers and fries are epic!



adverb

  1. Slang. very; extremely:

    That's an epic cool video!

noun

  1. an epic poem.
  2. epic poetry.
  3. any composition resembling an epic.
  4. something worthy to form the subject of an epic:

    The defense of the Alamo is an American epic.

  5. Epic. Also called Old Ionic. the Greek dialect represented in the Iliad and the Odyssey, apparently Aeolic modified by Ionic.

epic

/ ˈɛpɪk /

noun

  1. a long narrative poem recounting in elevated style the deeds of a legendary hero, esp one originating in oral folk tradition
  2. the genre of epic poetry
  3. any work of literature, film, etc, having heroic deeds for its subject matter or having other qualities associated with the epic

    a Hollywood epic

  4. an episode in the lives of men in which heroic deeds are performed or attempted

    the epic of Scott's expedition to the South Pole

“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


adjective

  1. denoting, relating to, or characteristic of an epic or epics
  2. of heroic or impressive proportions

    an epic voyage

“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

epic

  1. A long narrative poem written in elevated style, in which heroes of great historical or legendary importance perform valorous deeds. The setting is vast in scope, covering great nations, the world, or the universe, and the action is important to the history of a nation or people. The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneidare some great epics from world literature, and two great epics in English are Beowulfand Paradise Lost.


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Notes

Figuratively, any task of great magnitude may be called “epic,” as in an “epic feat” or an “epic undertaking.”
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Other Words From

  • ep·i·cal·ly adverb
  • ep·ic·like adjective
  • non·ep·ic adjective noun
  • non·ep·i·cal adjective
  • sem·i·ep·ic adjective noun
  • sem·i·ep·i·cal adjective
  • su·per·ep·ic adjective noun
  • un·ep·ic adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of epic1

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin epicus, from Greek epikós; epos, -ic
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Word History and Origins

Origin of epic1

C16: from Latin epicus, from Greek epikos, from epos speech, word, song
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Example Sentences

Director Amma Asante and a knockout ensemble cast led by Gugu Mbatha-Raw tackled complex themes of race, class and gender and tell a moving story that combines intimate details and epic historical sweep.

I wrote an epic cover story that detailed the many perks of being a Googler.

From Fortune

Despite an epic global pandemic and an unprecedented reckoning with systemic racism, AB 5 is still in the running for the biggest story in Sacramento.

Over the millennium and a half since the sixth-century ballad was first recorded, Mulan has been the star of plays, of prose epics, of silent movies and children’s picture books and operas and Communist propaganda films.

From Vox

Childs, who has been pacing himself as the series progresses, explains that his approach to a series like The Crown, which he compares to an “epic novel,” has to differ from how he treats a two-hour feature film.

From Fortune

Excerpted from Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen by Philip Dray.

Neil deGrasse Tyson weighed in on what the epic film got wrong and right.

That corruption, says Stafford Smith, provided the opportunity for a “frame-up of epic proportions.”

He had aspired to construct an epic figure after visiting the pyramids and sphinxes of Egypt in 1855.

Jaguar scored epic wins at the grueling Le Mans 24-hour race.

Chapelaine celebrated her in 12 times 1200 verses; Southey has made her the subject of an epic, and Schiller of a tragedy.

This simple tale is told in twelve cantos; it aims to be an epic, and in its external form is such.

The epic character of the poem is sustained further than in its mere outward form; the manner of telling is truly epic.

Possibly he was led astray also by his desire to create an epic poem, in which a visit to the lower regions is a necessity.

Mistral spent seven years in elaborating his second epic, as he did in writing his first.

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epibolyepically