telos
Americannoun
plural
teloiEtymology
Origin of telos
1900–05; < Greek télos; cf. tele- 2
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.
Tergit refuses to present the Holocaust as the telos of a necessarily failed German-Jewish symbiosis.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
They call their creative process “convoluted” — they get captivated with the seed of an idea, and then hunt around for its telos.
From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2022
Foot’s description of flourishing is influenced by Aristotle, who based his concept of ethics on an examination of different virtues, which involve fulfilling one’s telos, or purpose.
From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022
“In my experience,” he says, “a telos crisis comes in two forms, walking and sleeping.”
From The New Yorker • Apr. 29, 2019
The manager had to come over, and they were given a new server who didn’t care about the cash value or telos of a comic book.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
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.
