Olympic Games

plural noun

1

: an ancient Panhellenic festival held every fourth year and made up of contests of sports, music, and literature with the victor's prize a crown of wild olive

2

: a modified revival of the ancient Olympic Games consisting of international athletic contests that are held at separate winter and summer gatherings at four year intervals

called also Olym*pics\ ə-​ˈlim-​piks , ō-​ \

Examples of Olympic Games in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Enthusiasm for the sport swelled when Lake Placid hosted the 1932 Olympic Games, and under the New Deal, the Civilian Conservation Core helped supercharge the development of New York’s trails and infrastructure. —Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 23 Oct. 2025

The 100m final at the 1988 Olympic Games has been dubbed the dirtiest race in history, which may not seem obvious ground for comedy. —Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2025

Olympic Stadium, the Expos' home since the 1976 Olympic Games, was crumbling. —Jon Paul Hoornstra, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Oct. 2025

Spoelstra previously served as head of the 2021 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team, which trained alongside the 2020 USA Men’s National Team ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1586, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for Olympic Games

• aims
• blames
• claims
• dames
• fames
• flames
• frames
• hames
• kames
• lames
• names
• shames

Kids Definition

Olympic Games

plural noun

1

: an ancient Greek festival held every fourth year and made up of contests in sports, music, and literature

2

: a series of international athletic contests held in a different country during the summer and the winter once every four years