Polyphemus

American

[pol-uh-fee-muhs] / ˌpɒl əˈfi məs /

noun

Classical Mythology.

a Cyclops who was blinded by Odysseus.

Polyphemus British

/ ˌpɒlɪˈfiːməs /

noun

Greek myth a cyclops who imprisoned Odysseus and his companions in his cave. To effect his escape, Odysseus blinded him

"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

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.

The EU says a primitive form of feta is mentioned in the Odyssey, when the hero of the ancient epic takes cheese from the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

But you can’t control your ears any more than Polyphemus can control his torment.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2020

Tellingly, Polyphemus lives among animals—he “counts a sheep and a ram as his closest companions”—and suffers in otherwise undisturbed isolation.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 16, 2015

Polyphemus, the Cyclops, crouches atop one set of revolving doors, and the Stymphalian birds, known for their toxic dung, hover over another.

From New York Times • Jul. 10, 2014

Grover yelped, but Polyphemus just picked up the nearest sheep like it was a stuffed animal and shaved off its wool.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023