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- DictionarySisyphean/sɪsɪˈfiːən/
adjective
- 1. denoting or relating to a task that can never be completed: "the pursuit of perfection is a Sisyphean task"
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The meaning of SISYPHEAN is of, relating to, or suggestive of the labors of Sisyphus; specifically : requiring continual and often ineffective effort. How to use Sisyphean in a sentence. Did you know?
Sisyphean means a task that can never be completed, like the one that Sisyphus had to do in Greek mythology. Learn how to use this adjective in sentences and see translations in different languages.
used to describe a task that can never be completed: Trying to completely eliminate doping from sports is a Sisyphean task. Many Manhattan residents find themselves in a Sisyphean cycle of buying and renovating. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases.
Sisyphean describes a task as seemingly endless and futile—you keep doing it but it never gets done. The word comes from the name of Sisyphus , a character in Greek mythology who was punished by being forced to continuously roll a boulder up a steep hill.
You can use Sisyphean to describe things that require a lot of hard work and yet will never be truly finished. Keeping a house clean can feel Sisyphean, and so can deciding on a movie that everyone in a family will enjoy.
Sisyphean means relating to Sisyphus, a mythological figure who was condemned to roll a boulder up a hill for eternity. It also means endless and futile, like a Sisyphean task. See synonyms, pronunciation, and sentences.
1. Of or relating to Sisyphus. 2. Endlessly laborious or futile: "The jumble of wet pans and platters ... made him weary; to dry them seemed a task as Sisyphean as to repair the things wrong with his parents' house" (Jonathan Franzen). [From Latin Sisyphēius, from Greek Sisupheios, from Sisuphos, Sisyphus .]
