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• hero
  hero

  noun

  a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character.
• Hero
  Hero

  noun

  a priestess of Aphrodite who drowned herself after her lover Leander drowned while swimming the Hellespont to visit her.

Trivia Time

Hero is derived from the ancient Greek word hērōs. What does hērōs mean?

Test Your Knowledge

hero

¹ American  

[heer-oh] / ˈhɪər oʊ /

noun

• heroes,
  plural
• heros
  plural

1. a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character.

   He became a local hero when he saved the drowning child.

2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal.

   My older sister is my hero.

   Entrepreneurs are our modern heroes.

3. an animal acknowledged for its courageous acts, devotion to duty, etc..

   This police dog hero was shot during the apprehension of a suspect.

4. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.

   Synonyms:

   star, lead

   Antonyms:

   heavy, villain

5. Classical Mythology.

   1. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity.

   2. (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability.

   3. (in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.

6. hero sandwich.

7. the bread or roll used in making a hero sandwich.

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adjective

1. being or relating to a person or animal noted for special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities, especially bravery or devotion to duty; heroic.

   A hero cat helped a firefighter spot a small child in a burning building.

2. (in advertising and marketing) especially notable, important, or central.

   Producing new hero content twice a year can help your brand grow.

   Your hero product should be obvious on your website.

verb (used with object)

1. to praise or treat as special; laud.

   We hero the moms who were writing parenting guides and giving advice to new mothers.

   Over the years, the judging panel has rightly heroed brands championing equal rights.

2. to bring to attention; highlight.

   These dishes beautifully hero the fresh organic ginger.

Hero ² American  

[heer-oh] / ˈhɪər oʊ /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a priestess of Aphrodite who drowned herself after her lover Leander drowned while swimming the Hellespont to visit her.

2. Also Heron Hero of Alexandria, flourished 1st century a.d., Greek scientist.

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hero ¹ British  

/ ˈhɪərəʊ /

noun

1. a man distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility, fortitude, etc

2. a man who is idealized for possessing superior qualities in any field

3. classical myth a being of extraordinary strength and courage, often the offspring of a mortal and a god, who is celebrated for his exploits

4. the principal male character in a novel, play, etc

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Hero ² British  

/ ˈhɪərəʊ /

noun

1. 1st century _ad , Greek mathematician and inventor

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Hero ³ British  

/ ˈhɪərəʊ /

noun

1. Greek myth a priestess of Aphrodite, who killed herself when her lover Leander drowned while swimming the Hellespont to visit her

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Hero Scientific  

/ hē′rō /

1. Greek mathematician who wrote on mechanics and invented many water-driven and steam-driven machines. He also developed a formula for determining the area of a triangle.

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Usage

Plural word for hero The plural form of the noun hero is heroes. The plurals of other singular words that end in -o are also formed in this way, including potato/potatoes, tomato/tomatoes, and echo/echoes. This can be confusing, because in some instances, words that end in -o are pluralized by simply adding an -s to the end, as in mango/mangos and flamingo/flamingos. However, the plural form heros is only valid when hero is used in the sense of a “hero sandwich.” This usage is very rare.

Gender

In its earliest use, the word hero was applied almost exclusively to a man. The corresponding word heroine was–and still is–reserved for a woman. Hero is still sometimes used to refer specifically to a man: British heroes and heroines. But hero is now considered to be a gender-neutral word, and is also increasingly used to refer to a woman: a list of American heroes; Joan of Arc, a French hero. In the sense "the principal character in a story, play, etc.," a hero is male and a heroine is female: Margaret is the novel’s heroine.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subhero
  noun
• unhero
  noun
• herolike
  adjective
• unherolike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• heroes
  plural
• heros
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hero

First recorded in 1605–15; back formation from Middle English heroes (plural), from Latin hērōs (singular), hērōes (plural), from Greek hḗrōs, hḗrōes

Explanation

Yes, a hero is a kind of sandwich. But when David Bowie sings, “We can be heroes,” he’s not talking about sandwiches. He’s talking about the more popular kind of hero — the kind who saves your life! A hero is someone who does fantastic things that people love. The guy who rescues a skater from a frozen pond is a hero. A hero can be the main character of a story, too, if people root for him. Spiderman is the hero of the comic series: he's the central character, but he also saves people. The word hero goes back to the Greek, referring to a demigod.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hero Hero heroes heros

The company hopes to develop AI-driven devices that could compete with Apple’s hero product, the iPhone, on which Apple has so far failed to deliver compelling AI experiences.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

At first he led a life of luxury, pampered by the military in Serbia where some to this day see him as a hero.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

On the day of his “Transformers” audition, Cullen had mentioned to Larry, his roommate at the time, that he was on his way to try out to be the voice of “a hero truck.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

They added he had been their "hero", always "willing to help anyone for any reason".

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

“He’s here with me, getting spoiled rotten. The men who found you told everyone how Moose laid on top of you and kept you warm. Your dog’s a hero; everyone’s feeding him pieces of doughnut.”

From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret

Back then, its Hero 3+ Black Edition camera was driving sales.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

“They therefore support the offer and recommend that Delivery Hero shareholders accept it.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

And speaking of dogs, the family has Shields’ golden retriever, a Rottweiler named Fancy, a giant schnauzer named Goose and two Belgian Malinois named Hero and Baymax.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

The grammy-nominated star had a string of other hits, including Holding out for a Hero and also represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Five women in the regiment were awarded the honor of Hero of the Soviet Union—Masha Dolina, Galya Dzhunkovskaya, and Klava Fomicheva are the ones we’d recognize.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

The Abstract Expressionist painters are the new heroes in Greenwich Village.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Aston Villa's European heroes are already part of history.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Bare and Huddleston, two self-described “country hicks,” have become polarizing heroes of the rural campaign against the AI technology rewiring geopolitics, the economy—and now hometowns like theirs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Green Lanterns are intergalactic heroes who use a special ring to harness their imagination and willpower to manifest objects, manipulate energy and fly, as we see Jordan do, to Stewart’s chagrin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Duke called to the last puppy still furiously paddling in the swirling water alongside the raft Fred’s heroes had just lashed together.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

I love a side-dish-main-dish hybrid, and grain- and veggie-based one-dish recipes are Thanksgiving heros.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 13, 2023

To mix it up, leftovers can easily be made into meatball heros.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2021

I’m sure the jobless, teachers, medical heros and first responders can sleep well tonight knowing these two gentlemen can survive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2020

Not like some kind of muscular Jack Lemmon, but still, more accessible than other 'yuge' action heros.

From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2017

They also received their own temple and divine guardian or heros, whose priest they elected.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels

Related Words

• eidolon
• example
• exemplar
• good example
• icon
• ideal
• idol
• model
• paragon
• person to look up to
• role model
• shining example