odyssey

noun

od·​ys·​sey ˈä-də-sē 

plural odysseys

1

: a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune

his odyssey from rural South to urban North, from poverty to affluence, from Afro-American folk culture to a Eurocentric world of books

—J. E. Wideman

2

: an intellectual or spiritual wandering or quest

an odyssey of self-discovery

a spiritual odyssey from disbelief to faith

Did you know?

Odysseus, the hero of Homer's Odyssey, spends 20 years traveling home from the Trojan War. He has astonishing adventures and learns a great deal about himself and the world; he even descends to the underworld to talk to the dead. Thus, an odyssey is any long, complicated journey, often a quest for a goal, and may be a spiritual or psychological journey as well as an actual voyage.

Examples of odyssey in a Sentence

The story is about the emotional odyssey experienced by a teenage girl.

the spiritual odyssey of the deeply religious

Recent Examples on the Web

For that odyssey from unhoused to secure and looking ahead, Open Heart provides a map. —Rick Hurd, The Mercury News, 8 Dec. 2024

That changed last July, when LATAM reintroduced flights between the capital and Huaraz, turning what had been a daylong odyssey into a one-hour flight. —Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 20 Nov. 2024

Several lawsuits were filed to keep DACA in place, sparking a legal odyssey involving competing lawsuits and an initial ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the policy. —Rick Jervis, USA TODAY, 20 Nov. 2024

This book is about his odyssey to walk the entire length of the chasm with a friend. —Jakob Schiller, Outside Online, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

the Odyssey, epic poem attributed to Homer recounting the long wanderings of Odysseus

First Known Use

1886, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

odyssey

noun

od·​ys·​sey ˈäd-ə-sē 

plural odysseys

: a long wandering or series of travels

Etymology

named for the Odyssey, a long poem from ancient Greece telling the story of the 10-year wanderings of Odysseus, a Greek hero and king