Odyssey
Americannoun
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Odysseys
plural
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(italics) an epic poem attributed to Homer, describing Odysseus's adventures in his ten-year attempt to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
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(often lowercase) a long series of wanderings or adventures, especially when filled with notable experiences, hardships, etc.
noun
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a Greek epic poem, attributed to Homer, describing the ten-year homeward wanderings of Odysseus after the fall of Troy
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(often not capital) any long eventful journey
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Explanation
Ever since Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey told the story of warrior Odysseus’ ten-year journey home from Troy, odyssey has meant any epic journey. As with the word journey, odyssey has both a literal meaning and a figurative one. A cross-country drive in which your car breaks down can be an odyssey, but so can the journey from orientation to finals that is the freshman year of college.
Vocabulary lists containing odyssey
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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.
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Another key trend identified by Kotsoni's team is the idea of the modern goddess - a take on the styles of Ancient Greece and a nod to Christopher Nolan's hit film The Odyssey this summer.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
According to the show's curators, elements of Flaxman's sketches can be seen in Turner's painting called Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus – Homer's Odyssey, including outlines of horses in the sunset and the shadow of a cyclops.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
DeLorenzo adapted the play himself for his production, which opened Saturday at the Odyssey Theatre, where he directed Ibsen’s “Ghosts” in 2022.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
“Beginning Middle End” unfolds in 24 parts, emulating the structure of the Odyssey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
His wife is one of the three Graces in the Iliad, called Aglaia in Hesiod; in the Odyssey she is Aphrodite.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Odysseys Unlimited has suspended its Israel trips until March 31.
From Reuters ● Oct. 16, 2023
Zoller’s Outdoor Odysseys has navigated adventurous paddlers through whitewater rapids and drops for 50 years, and Wet Planet Whitewater offers rafting and kayaking classes.
From Seattle Times ● May 10, 2023
Our news cycle does not assimilate 1,000-page-plus Odysseys of immersive journalism very well.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2020
Yet the New York City resident has done precisely that with her new venture, Personalized Odysseys.
From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2014
If he knows Homer, Homer is full of Odysseys trooping across the seas.
From The Lost Art of Reading by Gerald Stanley Lee
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.
