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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?
adjective. formal uk / ˌsɪs.ɪˈfiː.ən / us / ˌsɪs.ɪˈfiː.ən / Add to word list. used to describe a task that can never be completed: Trying to completely eliminate doping from sport is a Sisyphean task. Many Manhattan residents find themselves in a Sisyphean cycle of buying and renovating. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Unachievable.
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.
1. relating to Sisyphus. 2. actually or seemingly endless and futile. Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. Sisyphean in American English. (ˌsɪsəˈfiən ) adjective. 1. of or like Sisyphus. 2. endless and toilsome, useless, etc. a Sisyphean task. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition.
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 .]
