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

Each Starship will land with its propellant tanks depleted, and will depend on being refilled with 600 metric tons of oxygen and methane to make the return odyssey back to Earth. —Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025

Inspired by Coppola’s concept of Live Cinema, Gold embarked on a radically personal musical odyssey alongside real-life twin, Ethan Gold. —Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 9 Mar. 2025

Moreover, the process of restoring an original is an odyssey of unknowns. —Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 8 Mar. 2025

Plus, there was no formal acknowledgement of our forthcoming odyssey. —Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 2 Mar. 2025

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

Rhymes for odyssey

• geodesy

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