Athlete
//ˈæθ.liːt// noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A participant in any of a group of sporting activities including track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking.
- 2 a person trained to compete in sports wordnet
- 3 A person who actively participates in physical sports, especially with great skill; a sportsperson. Canada, US
"She's the first athlete in her sport to obtain a corporate sponsor."
- 4 An exceptionally physically fit person.
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"The athlete was full of spirit and confidence."
Etymology
From Middle English athlete, from Latin āthlēta (and probably also partly from Middle French athlete), from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs), from ἀθλέω (athléō, “compete for a prize”), from ἆθλον (âthlon, “prize”) or ἆθλος (âthlos, “competition”).
Related phrases
More for "athlete"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.