Bab·y·lo·nian
ˌba-bə-ˈlō-nyən 
-nē-ən
1
: of, relating to, or characteristic of Babylonia or Babylon, the Babylonians, or Babylonian
2
: marked by luxury, extravagance, or the pursuit of sensual pleasure
the Babylonian halls of the big hotel—
G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chestertonthe Babylonian delights of the city
Synonyms
Examples of Babylonian in a Sentence
Adjective
the Babylonian glitter of the city's gold coast
Recent Examples on the WebJennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 25 May 2023
Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press, 19 Mar. 2024
Robinson sees evidence that the Bible writers were fixated on God’s goodness in the way that this story of the flood differs from superficially similar Babylonian legends, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and Enuma Elish.
—James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
The use of fingerprints as unique identifiers has a long history, going back to ancient Babylonian and Chinese civilizations.
—Partha Banerjee, Discover Magazine, 23 Jan. 2024
The Babylonian king Nabonidus—who ruled some 1,700 years after Endheduanna wrote her hymns—dearly loved the moon god, and devoted a great deal of energy and resources to understanding the messages of the heavens during his reign.
—Rebecca Boyle, The Atlantic, 3 Jan. 2024
The Berkeley professor emeritus Daniel Boyarin has called the Babylonian Talmud — a rulebook for living Jewishly, composed in exile — the true Jewish homeland.
—Marc Tracy, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2024
The Babylonian epic the Enuma Elish begins with an account of the gods in their generations not creating but emerging, through a kind of parturition, into a preexisting state of unbeing.…
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—Jordan Castro, Harper's Magazine, 9 Jan. 2024
This did not sit well with Judah's king, Jehoiakim, who revolted against the Babylonian king in 601 BCE despite being warned not to do so by the prophet Jeremiah.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 31 Dec. 2023
Hesiod’s Theogony has nearly exact parallels with Sumerian and Babylonian creation stories, according to Meineck.
—Katie Liu, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023
Noun
The building was destroyed in 586 BCE when Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II sacked Jerusalem for the second time, effectively destroying the Kingdom of Judah.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 25 May 2023
Adjective
Ancient Chinese, Chaldean and Babylonian cultures, as far back as 2,500 BCE, noticed that certain celestial events, including eclipses, repeated themselves.
—Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press, 19 Mar. 2024
Robinson sees evidence that the Bible writers were fixated on God’s goodness in the way that this story of the flood differs from superficially similar Babylonian legends, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and Enuma Elish.
—James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024
The use of fingerprints as unique identifiers has a long history, going back to ancient Babylonian and Chinese civilizations.
—Partha Banerjee, Discover Magazine, 23 Jan. 2024
The Babylonian king Nabonidus—who ruled some 1,700 years after Endheduanna wrote her hymns—dearly loved the moon god, and devoted a great deal of energy and resources to understanding the messages of the heavens during his reign.
—Rebecca Boyle, The Atlantic, 3 Jan. 2024
The Berkeley professor emeritus Daniel Boyarin has called the Babylonian Talmud — a rulebook for living Jewishly, composed in exile — the true Jewish homeland.
—Marc Tracy, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2024
The Babylonian epic the Enuma Elish begins with an account of the gods in their generations not creating but emerging, through a kind of parturition, into a preexisting state of unbeing.…
Subscribe or log in to continue reading.
—Jordan Castro, Harper's Magazine, 9 Jan. 2024
This did not sit well with Judah's king, Jehoiakim, who revolted against the Babylonian king in 601 BCE despite being warned not to do so by the prophet Jeremiah.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 31 Dec. 2023
Hesiod’s Theogony has nearly exact parallels with Sumerian and Babylonian creation stories, according to Meineck.
—Katie Liu, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Babylonian.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near Babylonian
Cite this Entry
“Babylonian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Babylonian. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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