Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
Augean [aw-jee-uh n] ExamplesWord Origin adjective
- resembling the Augean stables in filthiness or degradation.
- difficult and unpleasant: an Augean chore.
Origin of Augean 1590–1600; Latin Augē(us) of Augeas (Greek Augeí(ās) + -us adj. suffix) + -an Examples from the Web for augean Contemporary Examples of augean
I had to chase the chickens back into the coop and close the door so I could finish with the Augean Stables of the chicken pen.
What Did TJ Mean By “Pursuit of Happiness,” Anyway?
P. J. O’Rourke
June 8, 2014
The Bush White House staff has begun the Augean task of spinning the Bush legacy.
Christopher Buckley
January 4, 2009
Historical Examples of augean
He has done much to cleanse the Augean stables of the English theatre.
Rolfe Arnold Scott-James
As well might Hercules have attempted to tidy up the Augean stables with a squirt.
Jerome K. Jerome
It is an Augean stable we have to clean, but Hercules was one, and we are many.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864
Various
But the task is vast, it is herculean, like unto the cleaning of the Augean stables.
James Herbert Walker
Cleaning the Augean stables was something of the same sort of a job.
Edward Hungerford
British Dictionary definitions for augean Augean adjective
- extremely dirty or corrupt
Word Origin for Augean C16: after Augeas; see Augean stables Word Origin and History for augean Augean adj.
“filthy,” 1590s, in reference to Augean stable, the cleansing of which was one of the labors of Herakles, from Greek Augeias, like the stable of Augeas, king of Elis, which contained 3,000 oxen and had gone uncleansed for 30 years. Herakles purified it in one day by turning the river Alpheus through it.