Ozymandias

O1Z10Y4M3A1N1D2I1A1S1
/ˌɒziˈmændiəs/

noun

A person once famous and respected who has since been utterly forgotten.

OriginAncient Greek Ὀσυμανδύας ← Demotic Egyptian wsr-mꜣꜥ.t-rꜥ ← Egyptian wsr-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ →
UncommonScrabble 25
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Meanings

nounOzymandias (plural Ozymandiases)

plural Ozymandiases

  1. A person once famous and respected who has since been utterly forgotten.
    1 more example

    2013, Will Self, quoted in The Guardian: "Falling short: seven writers reflect on failure" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/22/falling-short-writers-reflect-failure An unavoidable sequel of the posterity delusion is the death of the writerly self, which depends too much on incoherence and inconsistency to remain pompous for long. And of course, the vast majority of today's mummified immortals are tomorrow's Ozymandiases.

Origin

  1. Egyptianwsr-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ
  2. Demotic Egyptianwsr-mꜣꜥ.t-rꜥ
  3. Ancient GreekὈσυμανδύας
  4. EnglishOzymandias

From Ancient Greek Ὀσυμανδύας (Osumandúas), from Demotic Egyptian wsr-mꜣꜥ.t-rꜥ, smn-rꜥ, ns-mn-rꜥ, from Egyptian wsr-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ, the first part of the throne name of pharaoh Ramesses II. Modern usage derives from the poem Ozymandias, about a proud king whose empire and memory have long since crumbled into obscurity, written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and inspired by Diodorus Siculus's description of a colossal statue in the Ramesseum.

More words from Ancient Greek, Demotic Egyptian, Egyptian

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Ozymandias. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ozymandias

MLA

“Ozymandias.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ozymandias. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Ozymandias,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Ozymandias.

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