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Synonyms

griffin

1 American  
[grif-in] / ˈgrɪf ɪn /
Also griffon,

noun

Classical Mythology.

  1. a fabled monster, usually having the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.

griffin 2 American  
[grif-in] / ˈgrɪf ɪn /

noun

  1. (in India and the East) a newcomer, especially a white person from a Western country.

Griffin 3 American  
[grif-in] / ˈgrɪf ɪn /

noun

  1. a city in W Georgia.

  2. a male given name.

griffin 1 British  
/ ˈɡrɪfɪn /

noun

  1. a winged monster with an eagle-like head and the body of a lion

"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
griffin 2 British  
/ ˈɡrɪfɪn /

noun

  1. a newcomer to the Orient, esp one from W Europe

"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

Other Word Forms

  • griffinage noun
  • griffinesque adjective
  • griffinhood noun
  • griffinish adjective
  • griffinism noun

Etymology

Origin of griffin1

1300–50; Middle English griffoun < Middle French grifon < Latin grȳphus < Greek grȳp- (stem of grȳ́ps ) “curled, curved, having a hooked nose”

Origin of griffin2

First recorded in 1785–95; origin uncertain

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.

On the left arm, the mythical griffin creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle appears to be fighting with a stag.

From BBC • Jul. 30, 2025

You can’t have a lot of body horror in a kid’s movie, but you can have a topiary griffin who torrentially evacuates dead leaves across the backyard in a beautiful, disgusting arc.

From Slate • Sep. 20, 2018

At first she believed it to be some kind of mythical creature, a California version of a minotaur or a griffin.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 5, 2018

An oaken door leads down to this medieval-like subterranean space with a Bayeux-esque tapestry of dead patricians and a griffin.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 6, 2016

Dylan points outs a griffin that swoops down in the distance and emerges with some poor creature in its beak.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

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.