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

The imposing Polyphemus enters to take a bath, and the confusion starts.

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

Handel is Acis’s friend Damon, and Gay is Coridon, who advises Polyphemus on wooing Galatea.

From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2011

Polyphemus charged after him, but I shouted, “No!” and lunged as far as I could with Riptide.

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