Search

Classical Mythology. a youth slain by a wild boar but permitted by Zeus to pass four months every year in the lower world with Persephone, four with Aphrodite, and four wherever he chose.
a very handsome young man.
Contemporary Examples

The latest Adonis cast in the part is 31-year-old model-turned-actor Jamie Dornan.
Meet Jamie Dornan: ’50 Shades of Grey’s’ New Christian Grey Kevin Fallon October 22, 2013

For a time he wrote criticism for Mawaqif, a publication founded by the Syrian poet (and perennial Nobel also-ran) Adonis.
Elias Khoury: Profile of the Essential Arab Novelist Today Jacob Silverman August 2, 2012

In an interview with the Today show, Sheen ranted about “tiger blood” and “Adonis DNA,” and referred to himself as a “warlock.”
Charlie Sheen: Stop Putting Him on TV! Jace Lacob February 28, 2011

Cyrus tweeted a series of photos posing with a Hand of Adonis sex toy on a a plane.
Ke$ha Leaves Rehab, Miley Cyrus Poses With Sex Toy Culture Team March 6, 2014

No one thinks to transform him into an Adonis, to require him to mascara his lashes or tint his cheekbones a delicate pink.
The Men on the Dais Daphne Merkin January 1, 2009

Historical Examples

It was in the pocket of this that I found the poem of “Venus and Adonis.”
The Enchanted Typewriter John Kendrick Bangs

He had probably “Venus and Adonis” in his pocket when he first reached London.
The Man Shakespeare Frank Harris

Remember the touching story of Adonis, barbarously wounded, surviving in a pine, where he weeps eternally.
The Heart of the White Mountains, Their Legend and Scenery Samuel Adams Drake

It is all concerned with the wooing of young Adonis by Venus, an older woman.
The Man Shakespeare Frank Harris

Still, so far as personal appearance goes, Ludwig himself was no Adonis.
The Magnificent Montez Horace Wyndham

noun
(Greek myth) a handsome youth loved by Aphrodite. Killed by a wild boar, he was believed to spend part of the year in the underworld and part on earth, symbolizing the vegetative cycle
a handsome young man
n.

“a beau,” 1620s, from Greek Adonis, name of the youth beloved by Aphrodite, from Phoenician adon “lord,” probably originally “ruler,” from base a-d-n “to judge, rule.” Adonai is the Hebrew cognate.

In classical mythology, an extremely beautiful boy who was loved by Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Note: By extension, an “Adonis” is any handsome young man.