# epic

/ˈɛpɪk/ (US) · /ˈɛpɪk/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/epic
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. grand or impressive

adjective · CEFR B2

very large, impressive, or grand in scale.

For teachers: momentously heroic or grand in scale and character.

- The hikers were exhausted after their epic journey across the mountain range.
- The director spent years filming the epic historical drama, ensuring every costume and location was perfectly accurate to the period.

### 2. very good or extreme

adjective · CEFR B2 · Informal · Slang

used to describe something that is very good, impressive, or extreme.

For teachers: extending beyond the usual or ordinary; used as an intensifier for something remarkable.

- That skateboard trick was epic; I can't believe you landed it.
- The party ended in an epic fail when the birthday cake slid off the table and landed on the dog.

### 3. a long story or poem

noun · CEFR B2

a long poem, book, or film that tells a story about heroes and great adventures.

For teachers: an extended narrative poem or literary work in elevated language celebrating the feats of legendary heroes.

- In school, we had to read an ancient Greek epic about a long voyage home.
- The Odyssey is a classic epic that has influenced Western literature for thousands of years through its portrayal of heroism and struggle.

### 4. software development task

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a large piece of work in a software project that can be broken down into smaller tasks.

For teachers: a large or extended user story that cannot be completed in a single development cycle and must be decomposed into smaller tasks.

- The team is working on a new epic to improve the app's security features.
- The product manager decided to split the checkout epic into several smaller stories to make the development process more manageable.

Usage: Commonly used in Agile and Scrum project management frameworks.

## Examples

- The movie is a three-hour historical epic.
- The director spent five years filming his desert epic, hiring thousands of extras for the battle scenes.
- While the Iliad remains the foundational epic of Western literature, modern novelists often borrow its structure to frame contemporary family sagas as grand, multi-generational struggles.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.