Sis·y·phus

(sĭs′ə-fəs)

n. Greek Mythology

A cruel king of Corinth condemned forever to roll a huge stone up a hill in Hades only to have it roll down again on nearing the top.

[Latin Sisyphus, from Greek Sisuphos.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sisyphus

(ˈsɪsɪfəs)

(Classical Myth & Legend) Greek myth a king of Corinth, punished in Hades for his misdeeds by eternally having to roll a heavy stone up a hill: every time he approached the top, the stone escaped his grasp and rolled to the bottom

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Sis•y•phus

(ˈsɪs ə fəs)

n.

a legendary ruler of Corinth punished in Tartarus by being compelled to roll to the top of a slope a stone that always escapes him and rolls back down again.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

Sisyphus - (Greek legend) a king in ancient Greece who offended Zeus and whose punishment was to roll a huge boulder to the top of a steep hill; each time the boulder neared the top it rolled back down and Sisyphus was forced to start again

legend, fable - a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events

Ellas, Greece, Hellenic Republic - a republic in southeastern Europe on the southern part of the Balkan peninsula; known for grapes and olives and olive oil

Translations

Sisyphe

Sisyphus

[ˈsɪsɪfəs] N → Sísifo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Sisyphus

n → Sisyphus m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Sisyphus

[ˈsɪsɪfəs] n (Myth) → Sisifo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Miss Ophelia, in a few days, thoroughly reformed every department of the house to a systematic pattern; but her labors in all departments that depended on the cooperation of servants were like those of Sisyphus or the Danaides.

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son of Sisyphus should never have children born of one father (6).

And the sons of Aeolus, kings dealing justice, were Cretheus, and Athamas, and clever Sisyphus, and wicked Salmoneus and overbold Perieres.'

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And now it is the time; from Hell's abyss Come thirsting Tantalus, come Sisyphus Heaving the cruel stone, come Tityus With vulture, and with wheel Ixion come, And come the sisters of the ceaseless toil; And all into this breast transfer their pains, And (if such tribute to despair be due) Chant in their deepest tones a doleful dirge Over a corse unworthy of a shroud.

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Things went on thus for more than one hundred and twenty miles; they were worn out with ascending and falling again; the balloon, like another rock of Sisyphus, kept continually sinking back toward the ground.

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"And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone with both his hands.

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There is a city in the heart of Argos, pasture land of horses, called Ephyra, where Sisyphus lived, who was the craftiest of all mankind.

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What would not a man give, O judges, to be able to examine the leader of the great Trojan expedition; or Odysseus or Sisyphus, or numberless others, men and women too!

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This effect is produced when the clever rogue, like Sisyphus, is outwitted, or the brave villain defeated.

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For example, the book rightly sheds light on the darker--cunning and criminal--face of Sisyphus, interestingly ignored by Camus.

A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus and the Quest for Meaning

Its belief that it can pouch Kashmir is akin to the Sisyphus story.

Pak mischief is exposed by Mountbatten