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

But you can’t control your ears any more than Polyphemus can control his torment.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2020

Multiple villages in Sicily claimed to possess the remains of Polyphemus, the Cyclops blinded by Odysseus.

From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2017

Henderson’s totemic character is Polyphemus, the half-divine Cyclops whose appearance in Homer’s “Odyssey” is one of the poem’s most harrowing episodes.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 16, 2015

Their next adventure was with the Cyclops Polyphemus, a full account of which is given in Part One, Chapter 4.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023