Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero.
- noun A literary or dramatic composition that resembles an extended narrative poem celebrating heroic feats.
- noun A series of events considered appropriate to an epic.
- adjective Of, constituting, having to do with, or suggestive of a literary epic.
- adjective Surpassing the usual or ordinary, particularly in scope or size.
- adjective Heroic and impressive in quality.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Pertaining to or constituting an epos or heroic poem; narrating at length and in metrical form as a poetic whole with subordination of parts a series of heroic achievements or of events under supernatural guidance.
- Hence Of heroic character or quality; bold in action; imposing.
- noun A narrative poem of elevated character, describing generally the exploits of heroes; an epic poem. See I.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Narrated in a grand style; pertaining to or designating a kind of narrative poem, usually called an heroic poem, in which real or fictitious events, usually the achievements of some hero, are narrated in an elevated style.
- noun An epic or heroic poem. See
epic , a.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language,celebrating thefeats of a deity or demigod (heroic epic) or otherlegendary or traditionalhero . - noun A
series ofevents consideredappropriate to an epic. - adjective Of, or
relating to, an epic. - adjective Momentously
heroic ;grand inscale orcharacter - adjective colloquial, slang, informal Extending beyond the
usual orordinary ;extraordinary ,momentous ,great .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale)
- adjective constituting or having to do with or suggestive of a literary epic
- noun a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I don't understand why you conceptualizing the term epic necessarily means you have to compare your definition to someone else's.
All You Riders Flog My Product: Epics in the Service of Publicity BikeSnobNYC 2009
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That said, West deliberately takes his time building up to the dark arts activities not so subtly parlayed in the title epic-so-as-to-be-a-dash-humorous.
The House of the Devil Available Pre-Theatrical Release on VOD and Amazon | /Film 2009
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It must be confessed that there is an easily detected ambiguity in the use of the term epic in application to the poems, whether German,
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It is best perhaps to use the term epic, and to qualify the term by explanation.
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Thankfully, True Games remembers the "true" meaning of the term epic as they expand on their game,
Gaming Nexus 2010
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Hi Mexican, the term epic fail isn't an epic fail, it just denotes one.
News round-up 2010
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Now there's combo sure to redefine the term epic fail, that is if Google and Microsoft ever gave the Wang's the thumbs up, which they won't.
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Thankfully, True Games remembers the "true" meaning of the term epic as they expand on their game,
Gaming Nexus 2010
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You want to weigh your breakfast, shave your forearms, use the word "epic" a lot and bore the office about your pre-dawn workout regimen, that's a personal choice.
You Cannot Be That Serious About Sports Jason Gay 2011
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I wrote: "An invaluable source of DIY marital therapy is spending a little time in the presence of what I classify as 'epic marriages'—those whose length seems to have intensified not merely the love but the camaraderie between the husband and wife."
Readers: On Fighting, Spending and Marriage Katherine Rosman 2011
sonofgroucho commented on the word epic
As in "Makes Ben Hur look like an epic".
April 28, 2007