Gorgon definition

gôrgən
A woman regarded as ugly or terrifying.
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(greek mythology) Any of the three sisters Stheno, Euryale, and the mortal Medusa who had snakes for hair and eyes that if looked into turned the beholder into stone.
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Any ugly, terrifying, or repulsive woman.
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(gr. myth.) Any of three sisters with snakes for hair, so horrible that the beholder is turned to stone.
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Like a gorgon; very ugly or terrifying.
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(Greek mythology) A vicious female monster from Greek mythology with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes.
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An intimidating, ugly, or disgusting woman; anything hideous or horrid.

"Swilling martinis and spewing venom, Phyllis is a particularly unappetizing gorgon, telling us at one point that an acquaintance of hers is aroused by the Heimlich maneuver." — Washington Post, July 1, 2005

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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
gorgon
Plural:
gorgons

Origin of gorgon

  • Middle English from Latin Gorgō Gorgon- from Greek from gorgos terrible

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Ancient Greek Γοργώ (Gorgō), from γοργός (gorgos, “terrible”).

    From Wiktionary

Gorgon Sentence Examples

  • He died from the bite of a serpent which sprang from the blood of the Gorgon Medusa.

  • Here Perseus, returning from having slain the Gorgon, found her, slew the monster, set her free, and married her in spite of Phineus, to whom she had before been promised.

  • The Attic tradition, reproduced in Euripides (Ion 1002), regarded the Gorgon as a monster, produced by Gaea to aid her sons the giants against the gods and slain by Athena (the passage is a locus classicus on the aegis of Athena).

  • The story of the slaying of Medusa by Athena, in which there is no certain evidence that she played a direct part, explained by Roscher as the scattering of the storm-cloud, probably arose from the fact that she is represented as wearing the Gorgon's head as a badge.

  • She was represented standing, in a long tunic; on her head was a helmet, ornamented with sphinxes and griffins; on her breast was the aegis, fringed with serpents and the Gorgon's head in centre.

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