Jump To:

• 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.

---

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.

---

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

---

Hero ² 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

---

Hero ³ British  

/ ˈhɪərəʊ /

noun

1. 1st century _ad , Greek mathematician and inventor

---

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.

---

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

Olympic hockey hero Jack Hughes, held off American History and Salahudin in the 1 1/16-mile race at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., to remain undefeated in five starts and clinch the 2-year-old championship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

By the time Stewart’s final voyage with “Star Trek” debuted in 2020, Picard was less of a Starfleet hero than a wise man exhausted by politics and cruelty.

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026

Mao remains officially revered as the hero of the communist revolution and founder of the People's Republic of China.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

Janones is hardly an unblemished hero: He has faced corruption allegations and accusations of threatening to release intimate photographs of his ex-girlfriend, who obtained a protective order against him—allegations he denies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

She’s a bit heavier than Jack, so if your hero is about that big he could float on a raft with twenty coconuts.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

Appeared in the November 3, 2026, print edition as 'Harford Steele, a Hero’s Hero'.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

That’s “potentially longer than the timeline for Uber to close on Delivery Hero, which was announced in July” and could close in the second half of next year.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

Similarly, the headline of the i Paper reads: "Hero passengers storm cockpit to save Israel flight from disaster."

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Some carried flags or wore T-shirts featuring Mladic in uniform with the caption, "Serbian Hero".

From Barron's ● Sep. 5, 2026

Marina and Polina were each presented with a second Order of Lenin award, and they and Valentina were all given the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union— the nation’s highest honor.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

The entrance of the dingy space includes a display of “Faces of South Texas,” which includes Selena, Nolan Ryan, Tom Landry, and some war heroes.

From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026

We can credit the actor’s innate emotional agility for his commitment to every part, or a versatility earned over decades of playing many major heroes and villains the Bard scribbled onto parchment.

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026

Like the railroads, like the oil business, the Silicon Valley creators and innovators began as hoodie-wearing outsider heroes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

Grealish also appeared to present awards at the Daily Mirror's 'Pride Of Britain' event recently, saying: "Footballers are classed as heroes - but these are the real heroes."

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

“Before him, it was that pirate Drake. And before him, Odysseus. They were all the same! The gods send me the greatest heroes, the ones I cannot help but...”

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

“Your life will be a story. It will be your story, with its highs and lows, its heros and villains, its forks in the road that mean everything.”

From Washington Post ● Apr. 1, 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

“I met one of my heros today,” Shaw tweeted with his picture with Emma Gonzalez.

From Washington Times ● May 12, 2018

Splendid fellows, some of them, working like heros, poor and friendless, but so full of courage, patience, and ambition that I was ashamed of myself, and longed to give them a right good lift.

From Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---