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epic Definition

epic (ep′ik)

noun

  1. a long narrative poem in a dignified style about the deeds of a traditional or historical hero or heroes; typically,
    1. a poem like the Iliad or the Odyssey, with certain formal characteristics (beginning in medias res, catalog passages, invocations of the muse, etc.)
    2. a poem like Milton's Paradise Lost, in which such characteristics are applied to later or different materials
    3. a poem like Beowulf, considered as expressing the early ideals and traditions of a people or nation
  2. any long narrative poem regarded as having the style, structure, and importance of an epic, as Dante's Divine Comedy
  3. a prose narrative, play, film, etc. regarded as having the qualities of an epic
  4. a series of events regarded as a proper subject for an epic

Etymology: L epicus < Gr epikos, (adj.) epic < epos, a word, speech, song, epic < IE *wekwos-, word < base *wekw-, to speak > L vox, OE woma, noise

adjective

  1. of an epic
  2. having the nature of an epic; specif.,
    1. heroic; grand; majestic; imposing
    2. dealing with or characterized by events of historical or legendary importance

epic Related Forms
ep′i·cal·ly adverb
epic Synonyms

epic

modif.

heroic, classic, grand, grandiose, narrative, Homeric, historic, momentous, significant, tremendous, huge, vast, monumental, major, on a grand scale.

Antonyms unimportant*, small*, lyric.

epic Synonyms

epic

n.

narrative poem, heroic poem, heroic story, saga, legend, chronicle, epos, epopee, national epic; see also poem, story.

epic Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • write: Still, this cliff has epic written all over it, the choice is yours.

Preposition: in

  • scope: She wanted to branch out and tell tales that were epic in both scope and in the themes that they explored.
  • scale: Often epic in scale, they range from Mozart to Molière.

Adjective modifier

  • sprawling: In this wonderfully sprawling epic again and again he manages to bring a scene, a person, a conversation dramatically to life.
  • sweeping: Sweeping historical epic set in England, Scotland and France.
  • cinematic: The books which inspired the two cinematic epics of 1999 are exultant calls to national pride at times of turbulance.
  • historical: In 1999 the people of Poland flocked in their millions to see two new films based on much-loved historical literary epics.
  • romantic: Prime among these is Meyers ' mistaking quality for quantity: crime or western epic, yes; romantic comedy epic, no.
  • mini: The song is structured with tranquil quiet verses and an upbeat chorus that combine to make a very Genesis like mini epic.

Modifies a noun

  • poem: Harold is in some respects like an epic poem.
  • voyage: His nephew, James Clark Ross, was with him on this epic voyage.
  • tale: Instead, one makes a big old epic tale that favors the bizarre.
  • saga: Fans have waited 28 years for the sixth and final installment in George Lucas's epic saga.
  • journey: Here at last, the story of Joanna Dark's epic journey to becoming the Perfect Agent finally touches down on Xbox 360.
  • pn: EPIC pn sensitivity limits for a point source with an = 0.7 power law spectrum, for different energy bands, see Table 5.

Noun used with modifier

  • sci-fi: NANCY; You're a scary being in a mask from a sci-fi epic during a major war.
  • prog: This is a superb " prog epic " with its changes of mood and pace.
  • samurai: He can be seen as a movement toward the dark heroes of later samurai epics.
  • fantasy: I first began to write as a teenager, when I first had the idea for a sprawling science fiction and fantasy epic.
  • minute: The centerpiece of the record is the 9 minute epic ' Temples of the Sea ' .
epic Quotes

Les temps primitifs sont lyriques, les temps antiques sont e¤  piques, les temps modernes sont dramatiques. The primitive era was lyrical, the classical era was epic and the modern era is dramatic.

—Hugo,Victor Marie

Thislittlesteamer, likeall herbraveand battered sisters,is immortal. She'll go sailing proudly down the years in the epic of Dunkirk. And our great-great-grand-children, when they learn how we began this war by snatching glory out of defeat, and then swept on to victory, may also learn how the little holiday steamers made an excursion to hell and came back glorious.

—Priestley,J(ohn) B(oynton)

A classic lecture, rich in sentiment, With scraps of thundrous Epic lilted out By violet-hooded Doctors, elegies And quoted odes, and jewels five-words-long, That on the stretched forefinger of all Time Sparkle for ever.

—Tennyson

Browse dictionary entries near epic

  1. ‹ epiboly
  2. ‹ epiblast
  3. ‹ epibenthos
  4. ‹ epi-
  5. ‹ Ephraimite
  6. ‹ Ephraim
  7. ‹ ephor
  8. ‹ ephod
  9. ‹ Ephesus
  10. ‹ Ephesians
  1. epicalyx ›
  2. epicanthus ›
  3. epicardium ›
  4. epicarp ›
  5. epicedium ›
  6. epicene ›
  7. epicenter ›
  8. epicotyl ›
  9. epicranium ›
  10. epicritic ›