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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. 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 ³ British  

/ ˈhɪərəʊ /

noun

1. 1st century _ad , Greek mathematician and inventor

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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 wounded captain who opened the cockpit door has been hailed as a hero.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

An epic hero does not scorn death; he appreciates its gravity and confronts it anyway.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

At a news conference last month, Sheriff Robert Luna described Clinkunbroomer as a hero, model son, amazing coworker and the exact type of person he wanted wearing the department’s uniform.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar was hailed as a "hero" on Thursday after fighting to retain control of a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight when his co-pilot allegedly attacked him, leaving him wounded but helping avert disaster.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

“No, she’s not,” I sign back, wide-eyed as I watch my grandmother attacking a folk hero from Ghanaian mythology.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

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

From Barron's ● Sep. 5, 2026

Last year, without El Niño, forest fires in Indonesia torched a 359,000-hectare area, says Professor Bambang Hero Saharjo, a forest fire forensics expert from Institut Pertanian Bogor University.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Uber said in July it had reached an agreement to buy Delivery Hero in a deal valuing the smaller company at $14.8 billion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

“If it pleases the Queen’s Hand to recall, the Wise Masters hold our Hero too,” said Grey Worm.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

And the Daily Express claims in an exclusive that a new medal for "999 heroes" injured during service is set to be approved by King Charles.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

"I salute these heroes," he said of the passengers, adding "they prevented a major disaster".

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

It feels misguided to turn public figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci or Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., into heroes or thirst traps just for doing their jobs.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026

Of course, coverups usually fail, but most fail in ways that leave no heroes, only a permanent odor of malfeasance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

In the stories she read, heroes saved the world; they were chosen ones sent to rescue people.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

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

Shaw posted a photo to Twitter of himself and student activist Emma González with the caption, “I met one of my heros today.”

From Washington Post ● May 14, 2018

Every country has "heros" if you define "heros" as honorable people willing to treat others as they would want themselves and their family treated.

From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2018

I'm glad I'm a girl, an' I want to tell you that the' 's been just about as many heroines as heros too.

From Happy Hawkins by Robert Alexander Wason

Related Words

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