Olympian

Syllables: Olymp·i·an/əˈlɪm.pɪ.ən//əˈlɪm.pi.ən/

Olympian adjective: of or relating to Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece; or (Greek mythology) the Greek gods and goddesses who were believed to live there.

Adjective (1)

Olympian (not generally comparable, comparative more Olympian, superlative most Olympian)

(not comparable, usually) Of or relating to Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece; or (Greek mythology) the Greek gods and goddesses who were believed to live there.
- Namely, the Olympian Iove, to whom Antiochus [IV Epiphanes] conſecrated the Temple of God, 2 Mac[cabees] 6.2. and ſo he placed him, as it were, in Gods own cittadell, ver. 31. […] [T]he ſaid Olympian Iove was an Athenian Idoll, and not a Syrian one: which was Antiochus his native Country.1648, John Diodati [i.e., Giovanni Diodati], “Annotations upon Daniel”, in R. G., transl., Pious and Learned Annotations upon the Holy Bible: Plainly Expounding the Most Difficult Places thereof...
- Deſcend from Heav'n Urania, by that name / If rightly thou art call'd, whoſe Voice divine / Following, above th' Olympian Hill I ſoare, / Above the flight of Pegaſean wing.1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
Synonyms:

Olympic
(broadly, comparable, not comparable, usually) Celestial, heavenly; also, godlike.
- Behold! your Saviour mounts th' Olympian plain, / In endleſs glories with his Sire to reign.1768, Marcus Hieronymus Vida [i.e., Marco Girolamo Vida], “Book VI”, in J[ohn] Cranwell, transl., The Christiad, a Poem in Six Books; […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] J. Archdeacon, printer to the...
- He has […] a certain high chested carriage of the shoulders, a lofty pose of the head, and the Olympian majesty with which a mane, or rather a huge wisp, of hazel colored hair is thrown back from an imposing brow, suggest Jupiter rather than Apollo.1901–1903, [George] Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman. […], Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable & Co., published 1903, →OCLC, Act I, page 8
(broadly, comparable, not comparable, usually) Acting in a remote and superior manner; aloof.
- The Olympian distance he so carefully cultivated was shot through with genuine exhaustion. Workaholic and overburdened with affairs of state, he had evidently written the letter in snached moments between other matters.2011, Thomas Penn, “Richmond”, in Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, published March 2012, →ISBN, part 1 (Blood and Roses), page 51

Noun (1)

Olympian (plural Olympians)

(Greek) Any of the 12 principal gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon (Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, and Hades); (specifically) preceded by the: Zeus, the supreme ruler of the Greek deities.
- Pauſanias's account is related pretty faithfully there, if we except two errors, one, that Arcas an Olympian mixed ſome Hippomanes with the brazen ſtatue, the other that he caſt a mare. […] We do not find in the author's Latin, that Arcas the Olympian mixed ſome Hippomanes, &c.1741, [Pierre] Bayle, “A Dissertation Concerning the Hippomanes”, in John Peter Bernard, Thomas Birch, John Lockman, et al., transl., A General Dictionary, Historical and Critical: […], volume X...
- Midas longed for gold, and insulted the Olympians. He got gold, so that whatsoever he touched became gold—and he, with his long ears, was little the better for it.1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “Morrison’s Pill”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book I (Proem), page 15
In the Platonist theology of Plethon, a god in one group of supercelestial gods, the other group of such gods being the Tartareans or Titans.
(figuratively) A person with superior talents or towering achievements.

Adjective (2)

Olympian (not comparable)

(historical) Of or relating to the town of Olympia in Elis, Greece; Olympic.
(historical) Of or relating to the ancient Olympic Games held at Olympia; Olympic.
- For he [Alexander the Great] was not (as his father Philip [II of Macedon]) deſirous of all kind of glorie: who like a Rhetoritian had a delight to vtter his eloquence, and ſtamped in his coines, the victories he had wonne at the Olympian games, by the ſwift running of his horſe and coaches. For...1612, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “The Life of Alexander the Great”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, Compared together by that Grave Learned...
- The Olympian Games were celebrated at the Full Moon after the Somer Solſtice, ſo the Olympian Years begin at that Seaſon.1705, Tho[mas] Hearne, “The Gro[u]nds of Chronology”, in Ductor Historicus: Or, A Short System of Universal History, and an Introduction to the Study of It. […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: […]...
Of or relating to the modern Olympic Games; Olympic.

Noun (2)

Olympian (plural Olympians)

An inhabitant of the city of Olympia, the capital of Washington, United States.
(historical) A sportsperson competing in the ancient Olympic Games.
- And I haue ſeene thee pauſe, and take thy breath, / When that a ring of Greekes haue ſhruped thee in, / Like an Olympian wraſtling.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609...
A sportsperson competing in the modern Olympic Games.
- I will forever carry the pride and privilege of representing this amazing country on the grandest global stage. There is so much that comes with that, with being an Olympian. But now, because of Covid-19, some athletes will never get that honour. […] There will be people who were getting the timing...2020 August 28, Steve Solomon, “Covid has stripped Olympic glory from a generation of athletes – that’s heartbreaking”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN...
- […] Olympians’ mental health has never been a key concern for the sports governing bodies that oversee them.2021 July 22, Alice Park, “How Olympians are Fighting to Put Athletes’ Mental Health First”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Jul 2021

Olympian meaning in Hindi and Malayalam

Olympian in Hindi

of or relating to Mount Olympus: ओलिंपियाई olimpiyāī

Olympian in Malayalam

distant, aloof, remote: ഒളിമ്പ്യൻ, ഔന്നത്യമുള്ള, ഒളിമ്പസ് ദേവന്മാരിൽ ഒരാളെപ്പോലെയുള്ള, ദേവസമാനായ, അസാധാരണശാന്തത കെെവരിച്ച, ഗംഭീരനായ

Examples of Olympian in a sentence

Twelve Days were paſt, and now the dawning Light / The Gods had ſummon'd to th' Olympian Height.1715, Homer, “Book I”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […]...
[O]ther light / Though it be quick and sharp enough to blight / The Olympian eagle's vision, is dark, / Dark as the parentage of chaos.1818, John Keats, “Book II”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 96...
[…] Hetty was quite uneducated—a simple farmer's girl, to whom a gentleman with a white hand was dazzling as an Olympian god.1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “Hetty’s World”, in Adam Bede […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons...
For when he was asked one day (becauſe he was ſwift of foot) whether he would aſſay to run for victorie at the Olympian games: I could be content, ſaid he, ſo I might run with kings.1612, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “The Life of Alexander the Great”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians...

Synonyms of Olympian

Olympic

Forms of Olympian

Adjective
comparative	more Olympian
superlative	most Olympian
Noun
plural	Olympians

Origin of Olympian

From Late Middle English Olympyan, from Latin Olympius (“of or relating to Mount Olympus”) and its etymon Ancient Greek Ὀλῠ́μπῐος (Olŭ́mpĭos, “of or relating to Mount Olympus; living on Mount Olympus; Olympian”) + English -an (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, or forming agent nouns). Ὀλῠ́μπῐος (Olŭ́mpĭos) is derived from Ὄλῠμπος (Ólŭmpos, “Mount Olympus”) (from Pre-Greek) + -ῐος (-ĭos, suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’).

From Late Latin Olympianus (“Olympic”) + English -an (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, or forming agent nouns). Olympianus is derived from Latin Olympia (“town in Elis, Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held”) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’); and Olympia is from Ancient Greek Ὀλυμπῐ́ᾱ (Olumpĭ́ā, “Olympia”), from Ὀλῠ́μπῐος (Olŭ́mpĭos, “of or pertaining to Mount Olympus; living on Mount Olympus, Olympian; (specifically) Zeus”) or Ὄλῠμπος (Ólŭmpos, “Mount Olympus”) (see further at etymology 1) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). As regards noun sense 1 (“inhabitant of the city of Olympia, Washington, United States”), the city was named after the Olympic Mountains which are visible to the northwest, which in turn were named after Mount Olympus in Greece.

Words formed from Olympian

Phrases with Olympian

Winter Olympian

Questions about Olympian

What does Olympian mean?: Olympian means of or relating to Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece; or (Greek mythology) the Greek gods and goddesses who were believed to live there.
What is Olympian in Hindi?: Olympian in Hindi is ओलिंपियाई (olimpiyāī). See Olympian meaning in Hindi.
How do you use Olympian in a sentence?: Twelve Days were paſt, and now the dawning Light / The Gods had ſummon'd to th' Olympian Height.
What part of speech is Olympian?: Olympian can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce Olympian?: Olympian is pronounced /əˈlɪm.pɪ.ən/ (UK).

Words near Olympian in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: Olympian (page history and authors); olympian (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Olympian.wav, En-us-Olympian.oga.

Cite this entry: “Olympian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/olympian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.