phallus

noun

phal·​lus ˈfa-ləs 

plural phalli ˈfa-ˌlī 

-ˌlē

or phalluses

1

: a symbol or representation of the penis

2

: penis

Examples of phallus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Behind, a frieze of listless, phallus-dragging men and affable, gabbing women cross the horizon. — Walker Mimms, The New York Review of Books, 19 Sep. 2026

Police stormed the gallery and seized two canvases—The Naked Man, depicting a nude youth gripping a monstrous phallus, and The Big Night Down the Drain, showing a Hitler-like figure masturbating. — News Desk, Artforum, 1 May 2026

Die große Nacht im Eimer (The Big Night Down the Drain), made that year, depicts a figure of indiscernible age with a cadaverous pallor and yellow splotches, brandishing an oversized phallus beneath a soot-black veil. — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 30 Apr. 2026

Given Roman cultural norms, there’s a good chance more phalluses are waiting for them. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 2 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin, borrowed from Greek phallós "penis, representation of the penis," of uncertain origin

Note: The Greek word has generally been taken as an outcome of the western Indo-European etymon *b^hel-, implicated in a wide range of names for things swollen or inflated, especially in Germanic (compare ball entry 1, bowl entry 1). Chantraine (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque) suggests descent from *b^hl̥-nó-, but then hesitates on the grounds that the word does not show the dialectal variation usual with resolution of *-ln-, there being no correspondent with a lengthened vowel *phālo- (compare Attic-Ionian stḗlē "pillar, stele," Lesbian and Thessalian stallā, from *stálnā). Chantraine then adduces ballíon "phallus," a word used by Herodotus that he suggests was borrowed from "Thraco-Phrygian" (thraco-phrygien), and reconstructs for phallós a form *b^hol-i̯o-, a thematic derivative of *b^hol-i-, in heteroclitic alteration with *b^hol-(e)n-. G. Kroonen (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, under *bul(l)an- "bull") proffers the same Indo-European reconstruction *b^hl̥-no-. However, R. Beekes (Etymological Dictionary of Greek) follows E. Furnée (Die wichtigsten konsonantischen Erscheinungen des Vorgriechischen, p. 172), who considers features of this etymon (a variant with b, in the diminutive ballíon; the variant with single l phalēt-, phalês, as well as the suffix -ēt-) as evidence of a pre-Greek substratal word. Furnée also points to the close connection of phallós with the cult of Dionysus, which likely has pre-Greek roots.

First Known Use

circa 1613, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for phallus

• allis
• balas
• callous
• callus
• chalice
• gallus
• malice
• malus
• palace
• pallas
• talis
• talus

Kids Definition

phallus

noun

phal·​lus ˈfal-əs 

plural phalli ˈfal-ˌī 

-ˌē

or phalluses

1

: a symbol or likeness of the male sex organ

2

: penis

phallic

ˈfal-ik

adjective

Medical Definition

phallus

noun

phal·​lus ˈfal-əs 

plural phalli ˈfal-ˌī  -ˌē  or phalluses

1

: penis

2

: the first embryonic rudiment of the vertebrate penis or clitoris