Pygmalion

noun

Pyg·​ma·​lion pig-ˈmāl-yən 

-ˈmā-lē-ən

: a king of Cyprus who makes a female figure of ivory that is brought to life for him by Aphrodite

Examples of Pygmalion in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Barker combines the monkey’s paw and Pygmalion myths in this story of a young man who wishes that his dream girl would fall in love with him. — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 23 May 2026

Barker combines the monkey’s paw and Pygmalion myths in this story about a young man who wishes that his dream girl would fall in love with him. — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2026

Galatea in the moment she was brought to life by the goddess Venus, fulfilling the desire of her maker, Pygmalion, to have a wife as beautiful as his own creation. — Max Berlinger, Vogue, 4 May 2026

That was the dynamic between Bogdanovich and Shepherd—Pygmalion and Galatea. — Lili Anolik, Vanity Fair, 12 Jan. 2026

If the myth of Pygmalion imagines love perfected, distilled from the body, digital platforms deploy that ideal as a design principle. — Literary Hub, 20 Nov. 2025

Remember that George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion—and its musical adaptation, My Fair Lady—hinges on Henry Higgins reshaping Eliza Doolittle’s Cockney accent. — Sheon Han, Wired News, 27 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin, from Greek Pygmaliōn

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Pygmalion

• australian
• deucalion
• bacchanalian