damocles

Dam·o·cles

D d

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [dam-uh-kleez]
- /ˈdæm əˌkliz/
- /ˈdæm.ə.kliːz/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [dam-uh-kleez]
- /ˈdæm əˌkliz/

Definitions of damocles word

noun damocles a sycophant forced by Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, to sit under a sword suspended by a hair to demonstrate that being a king was not the happy state Damocles had said it was 3
noun damocles a courtier of ancient Syracuse who was given a lesson in the perils to a ruler's life when the king seated him at a feast under a sword hanging by a single hair 3
noun damocles a flatterer who, having extolled the happiness of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, was seated at a banquet with a sword suspended over his head by a single hair to show him the perilous nature of that happiness. 1
idioms damocles sword of Damocles, any situation threatening imminent harm or disaster. 1

See all 4 definitions of damocles

Information block about the term

Parts of speech for Damocles

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Damocles

damocles popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 74% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

damocles usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Top questions with damocles

what is the sword of damocles?
who is damocles?
who was damocles?

See also

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