Athlete Definition & Meaning

American

British

Pronunciation

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms athlete American [ath-leet] / ˈæθ lit /

noun

1. a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.

athlete British / ˈæθliːt /

noun

1. a person trained to compete in sports or exercises involving physical strength, speed, or endurance

2. a person who has a natural aptitude for physical activities

3. a competitor in track and field events

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Pronunciation

Athlete, athletic, and athletics, normally pronounced , , and , are heard frequently with an epenthetic schwa, an intrusive unstressed vowel inserted between the first and second syllables: , , and . The pronunciations containing the extra syllable are usually considered nonstandard, in spite of their widespread use on radio and television. Pronunciations with similarly intrusive vowels are also heard, though with less currency, for other words, as for film, for elm, and for arthritis, rather than the standard , , and .

Other Word Forms

• nonathlete noun
• superathlete noun

Etymology

Origin of athlete

1520–30; < Latin āthlēta < Greek āthlētḗs, equivalent to āthlē- (variant stem of āthleîn to contend for a prize, derivative of âthlos a contest) + -tēs suffix of agency

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Video footage appears to show one athlete making the universal hand sign for help from the team bus on Sunday night.

From The Wall Street Journal

"We're gutted, we're devastated," said Butterfield, who was bidding to become the first British athlete to win gold at both the summer and winter Paralympics after her club throw gold at Rio 2016.

From BBC

The lineup didn’t include any active college athletes, but let’s not get caught up in minutiae, what would college athletes have to offer about any of this.

From The Wall Street Journal

Maybe he’s found the right audience of young athletes.

From Los Angeles Times

"The AIU will continue to strictly enforce whereabouts requirements to protect the right of all athletes to clean competition."

From BBC

Related Words

• animal
• competitor
• contestant
• jock
• player
• professional
• sport

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.