Adjacent Words

Olympian definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of the region of Olympia in Greece or its inhabitants; "Olympian plain" [syn: Olympian, Olympic]
2: of or pertaining to the greater gods of ancient Greece whose abode was Mount Olympus; "Olympian deities"
3: majestic in manner or bearing; superior to mundane matters; "his majestic presence"; "olympian detachment"; "olympian beauty and serene composure" [syn: majestic, olympian]
4: far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree; "a night of exceeding darkness"; "an exceptional memory"; "olympian efforts to save the city from bankruptcy"; "the young Mozart's prodigious talents" [syn: exceeding, exceptional, olympian, prodigious, surpassing] n
1: an athlete who participates in the Olympic games
2: a classical Greek god after the overthrow of the Titans [syn: Olympian, Olympic god]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Date: 15th century 1. of or relating to Mount Olympus in Thessaly 2. befitting or characteristic of an Olympian; especially lofty <his…formula of glib simplicity and Olympian arrogance — Richard Pollak> II. adjective Date: 1593 1. of or relating to the ancient Greek region of Olympia 2. of, relating to, or constituting the Olympic Games III. noun Date: 1606 a participant in Olympic Games IV. noun Date: 1843 1. one of the ancient Greek deities dwelling on Olympus 2. a being of lofty detachment or superior attainments

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 a of or associated with Mount Olympus in NE Greece, traditionally the home of the Greek gods. b celestial, godlike. 2 (of manners etc.) magnificent, condescending, superior. 3 a of or relating to ancient Olympia in S. Greece. b = OLYMPIC. --n. 1 any of the pantheon of twelve gods regarded as living on Olympus. 2 a person of great attainments or of superhuman calm and detachment. Etymology: L Olympus or Olympia: see OLYMPIC

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Olympic O*lym"pic, or Olympian O*lym"pi*an, games games . A modified revival of the ancient Olympian games, consisting of international athletic games, races, etc., now held once in four years, the first having been at Athens in 1896.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Olympian O*lym"pi*an (-an), Olympic O*lym"pic (-p[i^]k), a. [L. Olympius, Olympicus, Gr. 'Oly`mpios, 'Olympiko`s, fr. 'O`lympos: cf. F. olympique. See Olympiad.] Of or pertaining to Olympus, a mountain of Thessaly, fabled as the seat of the gods, or to Olympia, a small plain in Elis. Olympic games, or Olympics (Greek Antiq.), the greatest of the national festivals of the ancient Greeks, consisting of athletic games and races, dedicated to Olympian Zeus, celebrated once in four years at Olympia, and continuing five days.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(Olympians) 1. Olympian means very powerful, large, or impressive. (FORMAL) Getting his book into print has been an Olympian task in itself. ADJ: usu ADJ n 2. An Olympian is a competitor in the Olympic Games. The importance of being an Olympian will vary from athlete to athlete. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

Elysian, Laodicean, above all that, aerial, airy, aloof, altitudinous, apathetic, ascending, aspiring, backward, bashful, beatific, beatified, benumbed, blah, blank, blase, blessed, candid, celestial, chilled, chilly, cold, colossal, comatose, constrained, cool, desensitized, detached, discreet, disinterested, dispassionate, distant, dominating, dull, elevated, eminent, ethereal, exalted, exclusive, expressionless, extramundane, extraterrestrial, forbidding, frigid, from on high, frosty, glorified, guarded, haughty, heartless, heavenly, hebetudinous, high, high-pitched, high-reaching, high-set, high-up, hopeless, icy, impartial, impassive, impersonal, in a stupor, in glory, inaccessible, indifferent, insouciant, introverted, languid, lethargic, listless, lofty, modest, monumental, mounting, neutral, nonchalant, numb, numbed, offish, otherworldly, outtopping, overlooking, overtopping, paradisaic, paradisal, paradisiac, paradisic, passive, phlegmatic, pluckless, prominent, remote, removed, repressed, reserved, resigned, restrained, reticent, retiring, seclusive, selfless, shrinking, slack, sluggish, soaring, soporific, spiring, spiritless, spunkless, standoff, standoffish, steep, stoic, stupefied, subdued, sublime, superlative, supernal, supine, suppressed, topless, toplofty, topping, torpid, towering, towery, transcendental, transmundane, unaffable, unapproachable, unbiased, uncaring, unconcerned, uncongenial, undemonstrative, unearthly, unexpansive, ungenial, uninfluenced, uninterested, unselfish, unswayed, unworldly, uplifted, upreared, withdrawn