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

Numan’s career and his odyssey back from near obscurity to another career high in his mid-sixties hold various lessons for business owners about self-belief and sticking to your principles, innovation and the value of a unique value proposition. —Paul Fitzgerald, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2025

In a detailed blog post published Aug. 8, the zoo described the odyssey that has taken Spoons from loneliness in Ohio to a place of his own in our zoo's African Savanna habitat. —Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 9 Aug. 2025

Shot and set in Transylvania, where the vampire myth began, the film sees Jude embark on an epic odyssey to make Dracula great again. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2025

This directionless odyssey — similar to what some other detainees across Florida have faced in recent months – happened because of rules limiting the number of days an undocumented immigrant can be held in a local facility before federal officials must take custody. —Natalia Jaramillo, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Aug. 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