Hellenistic

American  

[hel-uh-nis-tik] / ˌhɛl əˈnɪs tɪk /

adjective

1. pertaining to Hellenists.

2. following or resembling Greek usage.

3. of or relating to the Greeks or their language, culture, etc., after the time of Alexander the Great, when Greek characteristics were modified by foreign elements.

4. of or relating to the architecture of Greece and Greek territories from the late 3rd century through the 1st century b.c., characterized by deviations of various sorts from the proportions and arrangements of the mature Greek orders, particularly in the attenuation of the Doric order, and by innovations in plan and ornamentation.

5. pertaining to or designating the style of the fine arts, especially sculpture, developed in the area conquered by Alexander the Great from the end of the 4th to the 1st century b.c., chiefly characterized by delicate and highly finished modeling, dramatic, often violent movement of forms in space, representations of extreme emotion, highly individuated characterization, and a wide variety of subject matter.

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Hellenistic British  

/ ˌhɛlɪˈnɪstɪk /

adjective

1. characteristic of or relating to Greek civilization in the Mediterranean world, esp from the death of Alexander the Great (323 _bc ) to the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra (30 _bc )

2. of or relating to the Greeks or to Hellenism

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Other Word Forms

• Hellenistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of Hellenistic

First recorded in 1700–10; Hellene + -istic

Example Sentences

In antiquity, the city of Tyre was at various times Phoenician, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026

Hanukkah itself celebrates an ancient Jewish victory over the Seleucid Empire, which sought to impose Hellenistic culture and forced assimilation in Judea.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2024

Like Pompeii, this ancient city has yielded many great discoveries, and serves as a window into the world of the ancient Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman periods.

From Science Daily • Apr. 19, 2024

At “Winged Victory of Samothrace,” a white marble statue from Hellenistic Greece, better known as “Niké,” for example, Ms. Firestone noted that the figure’s wings had inspired the sportswear empire’s Swoosh logo.

From New York Times • Jul. 1, 2023

It was a practical expression of the self-aggrandizing impulse that inspired other megastructures in the new Hellenistic kingdoms, such as the renovated Temple of Apollo at Didyma, or the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro