epic
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.
resembling or suggesting such poetry: an epic novel on the founding of the country.
an epic poem.
epic poetry.
any composition resembling an epic.
something worthy to form the subject of an epic: The defense of the Alamo is an American epic.
Epic. Also called Old Ionic . the Greek dialect represented in the Iliad and the Odyssey, apparently Aeolic modified by Ionic.
Origin of epic
1Other words from epic
- 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
Words that may be confused with epic
- epic , epoch
Words Nearby epic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use epic in a sentence
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.
FROM THE VAULTS – Straight, but not narrow | Brian T. Carney | September 11, 2020 | Washington BladeI wrote an epic cover story that detailed the many perks of being a Googler.
The complaints of the entitled workers of Silicon Valley | Adam Lashinsky | September 8, 2020 | FortuneDespite an epic global pandemic and an unprecedented reckoning with systemic racism, AB 5 is still in the running for the biggest story in Sacramento.
Sacramento Report: 3 Takeaways From a Wild Legislative Session | Sara Libby | September 4, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoOver 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.
The history of Mulan, from a 6th-century ballad to the live-action Disney movie | Constance Grady | September 4, 2020 | VoxChilds, 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.
How Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ achieves its look—even as each season evolves | radmarya | August 29, 2020 | Fortune
Excerpted from Capitol Men: The epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen by Philip Dray.
The Black Man Who Replaced Jefferson Davis in the Senate | Philip Dray | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTNeil deGrasse Tyson weighed in on what the epic film got wrong and right.
Meet Kip Thorne, the Man Who Crafted the Artful Science of ‘Interstellar’ | Asawin Suebsaeng | November 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThat corruption, says Stafford Smith, provided the opportunity for a “frame-up of epic proportions.”
Did Pablo Escobar Frame a Millionaire for Murdering Banana-Shipping Money Launderers? | Jacqui Goddard | November 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe had aspired to construct an epic figure after visiting the pyramids and sphinxes of Egypt in 1855.
128 Years Old and Still a Looker: Happy Birthday to Lady Liberty | Elizabeth Mitchell | October 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTJaguar 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.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellThis simple tale is told in twelve cantos; it aims to be an epic, and in its external form is such.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerThe epic character of the poem is sustained further than in its mere outward form; the manner of telling is truly epic.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerPossibly he was led astray also by his desire to create an epic poem, in which a visit to the lower regions is a necessity.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerMistral spent seven years in elaborating his second epic, as he did in writing his first.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred Downer
British Dictionary definitions for epic
/ (ˈɛpɪk) /
a long narrative poem recounting in elevated style the deeds of a legendary hero, esp one originating in oral folk tradition
the genre of epic poetry
any work of literature, film, etc, having heroic deeds for its subject matter or having other qualities associated with the epic: a Hollywood epic
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
denoting, relating to, or characteristic of an epic or epics
of heroic or impressive proportions: an epic voyage
Origin of epic
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for epic
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 Aeneid are some great epics from world literature, and two great epics in English are Beowulf and Paradise Lost.
Notes for epic
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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