sapphic

Adjective (1)

sapphic (not comparable)

1. Lesbian, relating to lesbianism, or (broadly) to women who are attracted (not necessarily exclusively) to women.
   • Clinton and I became peripherally involved with a pair of Leckford Road girls who, principally sapphic in their interests, would arrange for sessions of group frolic.2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22
   • [...] and rumor had it that the Margo—Eve relationship was inspired by the bisexual Bankhead and her Skin of Our Teeth understudy [...] (The 1947 film version teamed Humphrey Bogart with sapphic stars Barbara Stanwyck and Alexis Smith.)2013, Boze Hadleigh, Broadway Babylon: Glamour, Glitz, and Gossip on the Great White Way, Back Stage Books, →ISBN, page 194

Adjective (2) capitalized: Sapphic

UK/ˈsæf.ɪk/

Sapphic (not comparable)

1. Relating to the Greek poetess Sappho from Lesbos or her poetry.
2. Of a certain kind of verse reputed to have been invented by Sappho, consisting of five metrical feet, of which the first, fourth, and fifth are trochees, the second is a spondee, and the third a dactyl.
3. Alternative letter-case form of sapphic.

Noun capitalized: Sapphic

UK/ˈsæf.ɪk/

Sapphic (plural Sapphics)

1. A Sapphic verse.
   • His Sapphics, on the story of Bacchus and Ariadne, are easy, elegant, and poetical.1824, Vicesimus Knox, The Works of Vicesimus Knox, D.D.: With a Biographical Preface
   • The first line (which goes by the name of Aristophanes) is a Sapphic without the initial trochees.1887, Horace, Horace: The Odes, Carmen Seculare, and Epodes, page 174
2. A person who is sapphic.
   • 'Very good,” he said, 'although I must confess that the older I get, the less I am able to enjoy the company of women – except of course our own dear Enid who is so notorious a Sapphic as to be virtually hors concours.2004, Simon Callow, Being an Actor, page 9
   • There are many of us (yes, even in Utah) who are more style-conscious, socially involved and culturally aware Sapphics than the common opinion dictates.2011 March 17, Annalisa Millo, “A great year for lesbians”, in QSaltake, number 176, page 33