sisyphean
/ˌsɪsəˈfiːən/adjective
sisyphean is spelled S-I-S-Y-P-H-E-A-N: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 127,184th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, sisyphean means “Alternative form of Sisyphean” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sisyphean?
| Letters | 9: S-I-S-Y-P-H-E-A-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 18 million words; the 127,184th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sisyphean?
Sisyphean appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 127,184th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sisyphean?
- /ˌsɪsəˈfiːən/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-Sisyphean.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sisyphean
- sisyphic
- sisiphic
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sisyphean mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Alternative form of Sisyphean.
adjective
- 1
Incessant or incessantly recurring, but futile.
Sisyphean task
- 2
Relating to Sisyphus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sisyphean in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense incessant or incessantly recurring, but futile:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sisyphéen, sisyphien |
| German | sisypheisch |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sisyphean come from?
From Sisyphus + -ean, from Ancient Greek Σίσυφος (Sísuphos). Sisyphus was a Greek mythical figure who was doomed to endlessly roll a boulder up a hill in Tartarus, only to have it roll back down again.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).