Meanings
oscar1
plural oscars
- A cichlid fish of species Astronotus ocellatus, native to South America, sometimes kept in aquariums.
Synonyms: marble cichlid, velvet cichlid
oscar2
- international standardsAlternative letter-case form of Oscar from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
Oscar3
- A male given name from Irish or Old English.
Had a funny first name, like Oscar or maybe - no! I remember now. It was Felix. Felix Tanner.
2005 Marc Cerasini, etc, Operation Hell Gate, HarperEntertainment, page 1341 more example
My son, though alone, is brave. Oscar is like a beam of the sky: he turns around, and the people fall.
1765, James Macpherson, The Poems of Ossian, Tauchnitz, published 1847, page 192 - A surname from Irish [in turn originating as a patronymic], a rare anglicization of Mac Oscair (literally “son of Oscar”) (McCusker).
- A locale in the United States.
- An unincorporated community in Kentucky; named for Kentucky Representative Oscar Turner.
- An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for early settler Oscar Bradford.
- An unincorporated community in Oklahoma; named for local rancher Oscar W. Seay.
plural Oscars
- informalAn Academy Award.
The gulf between cinephiles and the public has grown wide. There are pictures that make a lot of money, but seldom win big Oscars or attract young people to the show
2016 March 3, David Thomson, “Biggest lesson of the 2016 Oscars? The Academy should be scrapped”, in The Guardian1 more example
Primarily seen as a publicity vehicle for late-year releases, the awards show and its promoters have lately made pretensions to Oscar oracling: Jamie Foxx won the “breakthrough actor of the year” prize for “Ray” in 2004, after all, and Paul Haggis and his ensemble cast were honored for “Crash” four months before it won best picture.
2006 October 18, David M. Halbfinger, “Hollywood Film Chain’s Latest Link”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2025 - A statuette awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Oscar4
OSCAR5
- abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA cichlid fish of species Astronotus ocellatus, native to South America, sometimes kept in aquariums.
More synonyms by meaning
nounan annual award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievements in motion picture production and performance
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Oscar · proper noun, noun
- Old Englishōs“god”
- Old EnglishŌscār
- Middle IrishOscar
- EnglishOscar
Exact origin uncertain. Resuscitated by James Mcpherson in The Works of Ossian (1765). Napoleon, an admirer of the Ossianic poems, chose it for his godson Oscar Bernadotte, who became a king of Sweden. The modern given name is a conflation of two unrelated names: first, Middle Irish Oscar (the name of Fionn Mac Cumhaill's grandson in Irish mythology), from Middle Irish os (“deer”) + cara (“friend”); and second, Old English Ōscār, Ōsgār (personal name, literally “spear of the gods/spear of God”), from Old English ōs (“god”) and gār (“spear”) (see Oswald). Compare German Ansgar (personal name), Danish Asker, Asger (personal name), Norwegian Asgeir (personal name), Icelandic Ásgeir (personal name). (Academy Award): Disputed. Said to have been named by actress Bette Davis after her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson, or by secretary Margaret Herrick after her cousin Oscar Pierce.
More words from Middle Irish, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أُوسْكَار
- أُوسْكَار (ʔūskar)male given name
Basque Oskar
- Oskarmale given name
Bengali অস্কার
- অস্কার (oskar)male given name
Bulgarian О́скар
- О́скар (Óskar)male given name
Catalan Òscar
- Òscarmale given name
Chinese Mandarin 奧斯卡 /奥斯卡
- 奧斯卡 /奥斯卡 (Àosīkǎ)male given name
Czech Oskar
- Oskarmale given name
Danish Oskar
- Oskarmale given name
Dutch pauwoogcichlide
- pauwoogcichlideAstronotus ocellatus
Esperanto Oskaro
- Oskaromale given name
Estonian Oskar
- Oskarmale given name
Finnish Oskari
- Oskarimale given name
French oscar, Oscar
- oscarAstronotus ocellatus
- Oscarmale given name
German Pfauenaugenbuntbarsch, Oskar
- PfauenaugenbuntbarschAstronotus ocellatus
- Oskarmale given name
- Oscarmale given name
Greek Όσκαρ
- Όσκαρ (Óskar)male given name
Hebrew אוֹסְקָר
- אוֹסְקָר (ósqar)male given name
Hindi ऑस्कर
- ऑस्कर (ŏskar)male given name
Hungarian Oszkár
- Oszkármale given name
Irish Oscar
- Oscarmale given name
Italian Oscar
- Oscarmale given name
Japanese オスカー
- オスカー (Osukā)male given name
Korean 오스카
- 오스카 (oseuka)male given name
Latin Anscharius
- Anschariusmale given name
Latvian Oskars
- Oskarsmale given name
Norwegian Oskar
- Oskarmale given name
Persian اسکار
- اسکار (oskâr)male given name
Polish pielęgnica pawiooka, ocznik
- pielęgnica pawiookaAstronotus ocellatus
- ocznikAstronotus ocellatus
Portuguese Óscar, Oscar
- Óscarmale given name
- Oscarmale given name
Russian глазча́тый астроно́тус, О́скар
- глазча́тый астроно́тус (glazčátyj astronótus)Astronotus ocellatus
- О́скар (Óskar)male given name
Scottish Gaelic Osgar
- Osgarmale given name
Spanish óscar, copaneca
- óscarAstronotus ocellatus
- copanecaAstronotus ocellatus
- carahuasúAstronotus ocellatus
- acarahuazúAstronotus ocellatus
- Óscarmale given name
Swedish Oskar, Oscar
- Oskarmale given name
- Oscarmale given name
Thai ออสการ์
- ออสการ์ (òt-gaa)male given name
Ukrainian О́скар
- О́скар (Óskar)male given name
Yiddish אָסקאַר
- אָסקאַר (oskar)male given name
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
oscar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oscar
“oscar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oscar. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oscar,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oscar.
Source: oscar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.