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.—John Edgar 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 10 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.
Cite this Entry
“Odyssey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/odyssey. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.
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