cyclopean

C3Y4C3L1O1P3E1A1N1
UK/ˈsaɪkləʊpi.ən/UK/ˌsaɪkləˈpiː.ən/

adjective

Suggestive of a cyclops.

UncommonScrabble 18

Meanings

cyclopean1

adjectivecyclopean (comparative more cyclopean, superlative most cyclopean)

comparative more cyclopean · superlative most cyclopean · alternative cyclopian · alternative Cyclopean · alternative Cyclopian

  1. human sciencesSuggestive of a cyclops.

    Some of the descendants of this cyclopean ancestor left their burrows and started to swim.

    2026 February 23, Carl Zimmer, “The Rise of Eyes Began With Just One. Even Charles Darwin was puzzled by the evolution of the vertebrate eye. New research suggests that it traces back to a cyclopean invertebrate with a single eye atop the head”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2026
  2. businessFitted together of huge irregular stones.
  3. broadlyMassive in stature.
    1 more example

    2006, Fernando Pessoa, "Salutation to Walt Whitman," in A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe: Selected Poems, edited and translated by Richard Zenith, Penguin, pp. 198-9, You were cyclopean and muscular, not pretty, / Yet your attitude toward the world was feminine, / And for you each leaf of grass, each stone and each man was the Universe. See also quotation under cyclopian.

  4. Created by combining two images.

    When he wrote the word, / the o's were joined / like eyeglass lenses without / a bridge. Cross-eyed, hypnotic, / they threatened to merge, / become Cyclopean. […]

    2001, Sharan Strange, “Looking”, in Ash, Boston: Beacon Press, page 50

Cyclopean2

adjectiveCyclopean (comparative more Cyclopean, superlative most Cyclopean)

comparative more Cyclopean · superlative most Cyclopean

  1. Alternative letter-case form of cyclopean.

    Our quiuering Lances ſhaking in the aire, And bullets like Ioues dreadfull Thunderbolts, Enrolde in flames and fiery ſmoldering miſtes, Shall threat the Gods more than Cyclopian warres, […]

    c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Proto-Hellenic*Kúklōps
  2. Ancient GreekΚύκλωψ (Kúklōps)
  3. Latincyclōps
  4. Englishcyclops
  5. Englishcyclopean

From cyclops + -ean.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan ciclopi, ciclopi
  • ciclopisuggestive of a cyclops
  • ciclopimassive in stature
Esperanto ciklopa
  • ciklopasuggestive of a cyclops
French cyclopéen
  • cyclopéensuggestive of a cyclops
Polish olbrzymi
  • olbrzymimassive in stature
Spanish ciclópeo, ciclópico
  • ciclópeosuggestive of a cyclops
  • ciclópicosuggestive of a cyclops
Turkish endamlı
  • endamlımassive in stature
Cite this entry
APA

cyclopean. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyclopean

MLA

“cyclopean.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyclopean. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cyclopean,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyclopean.

Source: cyclopean on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.