ephebe means an 18- to 20-year-old man in ancient Greece undergoing military training. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
ephebe is pronounced /ɛˈfiːb/.
Why “ephebe” is a great word
EPHEBE — [Noun] In ancient Greece, a young man, typically aged 18 to 20, undergoing the formal, state-mandated military training and civic preparation that marked his transition to full citizenship. Via Latin ephēbus, from Ancient Greek ἔφηβος (éphēbos, "adolescent"), from ἐπί (epí, "upon, at") + ἥβη (hḗbē, "manhood, youth"). First attested in English in the late 17th century. Unlike "adolescent" (a general, abistorical term) or "hoplite" (a specific military function), the ephebe was defined by a ritualized liminal state—a citizen-in-waiting. He is the bronze-tinted youth drilling under a merciless sun, the figure in the chorus learning the city's hymns, and the watchman on the frontier staring into the dark—the city's investment in its own fragile future, a living promise not yet broken by time or battle.
noun
- An 18- to 20-year-old man in ancient Greece undergoing military training.
- A young man; a youth.“His glance touched their faces lightly as he smiled, a blond ephebe. Tame essence of [Oscar] Wilde.”