Sometimes Phoenix a mythical bird of great beauty fabled to live 500 or 600 years in the Arabian wilderness, to burn itself on a funeral pyre, and to rise from its ashes in the freshness of youth and live through another cycle of years: often an emblem of immortality or of reborn idealism or hope.
(initial capital letter) a southern constellation between Hydrus and Sculptor.
a person or thing of peerless beauty or excellence; paragon.
a person or thing that has become renewed or restored after suffering calamity or apparent annihilation.
Classical Mythology.
the brother of Cadmus and Europa, and eponymous ancestor of the Phoenicians.
a son of Amyntor and Cleobule who became the foster father of Achilles and who fought with the Greek forces in the Trojan War.
a city in and the capital of Arizona, in the central part.
Military. a 13-foot (4-meter), 989-pound (445-kilogram) U.S. Navy air-to-air missile with radar guidance and a range of over 120 nautical miles.
a legendary Arabian bird said to set fire to itself and rise anew from the ashes every 500 years
a person or thing of surpassing beauty or quality
To “rise like a phoenix from the ashes” is to overcome a seemingly insurmountable setback.
First recorded before 900; from Latin, from Greek phoînix “a mythical bird, purple-red color,” Phoenician, “date palm”; replacing Middle English, Old English fēnix, from Medieval Latin; Latin as above
If you want to see a phoenix, simply locate a unicorn or a centaur, and then you'll be in the right neighborhood. A phoenix is a mythical bird known for rising from its ashes. Don't try that at home! Accordingly to ancient legend, the phoenix is a bird that cyclically burns to death and is reborn from its own ashes. For this reason, the phoenix often serves as a symbol of renewal and rebirth. The name of Phoenix, Arizona is a direct reference to this idea; Phoenix was built upon the ruins of a civilization that had collapsed long before, apparently due to drought.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Around her stood people in T-shirts with the same illustration featured on the church’s bulletin that week: a phoenix representing Boyle Heights rising from the flames of a hellish warehouse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Humbled manager Leopold Aschenbrenner, whose surname means ash burner, probably will rise like a phoenix.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Yet the Atlanta Paralympics mascot was dazzling, a glorious phoenix arising from its own ashes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
Former captain Ryan Brierley is returning to Salford to become chief executive, the consortium that has won the bid to run the phoenix club has said.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Pirela’s brother Juan Pirela presented Phoenix multimedia news organization Arizona’s Family with Oswaldo’s work permit, which indicated it was issued in 2024 and is valid until 2029.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Hilton, who shares son Phoenix and daughter London with her husband, closed on the property on June 20, 2025.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Astronomers around the world observed the extreme encounter, and the event was presented at the AAS conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
The last X-Men movie Dark Phoenix, which featured the likes of Jennifer Lawrence and Sophie Turner, came out in June 2019.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The newspaper the Cherokee Phoenix is one example.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
You may know about dragons and phoenixes, but have you heard of the tarand, a reindeerlike animal who changes color at will?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
All of you are truly phoenixes rising from the ashes, making something beautiful that will last forever.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2025
Yeah definitely, phoenixes are a popular image to get.
From Slate ● Mar. 27, 2018
Judd said women's voices had been "squelched" in the past, but that they were emerging as "phoenixes".
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2018
Still, I could look at the pictures while the demon girl outlined the story about flying carpets and phoenixes and magical amulets and cranky old sand elves who lived on beaches.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
Galaxies that appear near bright stars like Beta Phoenicis might be impossible for some observatories on Earth to see, but Euclid’s sharp eyes are able to resolve them.
From New York Times ● May 23, 2024
For example, seven are seen to converge in Lacus Phoenicis, eight in Trivium Charontis, six in Lunae Lacus, and six in Ismenius Lacus.
From The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars by L. P. Gratacap
"No, sir, nor to Phoenicis, either," answered Fancher.
From Rebels of the Red Planet by Charles Louis Fontenay
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.
