athlete
noun
ath·lete
ˈath-ˌlēt 
nonstandard
ˈa-thə-ˌlēt
1
: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina
2
: an animal (such as a horse or a dog) that competes in races or other sporting events or has qualities (such as stamina and agility) suggestive of a human athlete
Hospice working dogs were wiry, muscular, agile, yellowish-tan or brown athletes with unexaggerated heads …—
Deborah Lawson
Deborah LawsonExamples of athlete in a Sentence
Athletes from around the world will be competing at the Olympics.
She was quite an athlete as a child.
Recent Examples on the Web
Wells was a standout athlete in three sports, then a longtime, successful coach for football and basketball -- then athletic director for nearly two decades.
—Ryan Anderson, Arkansas Online, 27 June 2025
Of course, Bristol can’t control the weather (at least not yet), but the comforts of blasting the AC while watching some of the world’s greatest athletes grinding it out in that green and pleasant land are hard to overstate.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 27 June 2025
Phil Knight, a track athlete at the University of Oregon, and his coach Bill Bowerman teamed up to import high-quality running shoes from Japan’s Onitsuka Tiger (now Asics) to sell in the U.S. market.
—Adam Sarhan, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
Bannister, a Brit who was a medical student and amateur athlete at the time, ran with two pacers, drafting them for the first three and a half laps of his record-breaking mile.
—Scott Neuman, NPR, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for athlete
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Ryan Anderson, Arkansas Online, 27 June 2025
Of course, Bristol can’t control the weather (at least not yet), but the comforts of blasting the AC while watching some of the world’s greatest athletes grinding it out in that green and pleasant land are hard to overstate.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 27 June 2025
Phil Knight, a track athlete at the University of Oregon, and his coach Bill Bowerman teamed up to import high-quality running shoes from Japan’s Onitsuka Tiger (now Asics) to sell in the U.S. market.
—Adam Sarhan, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
Bannister, a Brit who was a medical student and amateur athlete at the time, ran with two pacers, drafting them for the first three and a half laps of his record-breaking mile.
—Scott Neuman, NPR, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for athlete
Cite this Entry
“Athlete.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
athlete
noun
ath·lete
ˈath-ˌlēt
: a person who is trained in or good at games and exercises that require physical skill, endurance, and strength
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