heroic

[hi-roh-ik]

adjective

1. Also heroical of, relating to, or characteristic of a hero or heroine.

   Synonyms: courageous, brave, gallant, valorous, valiant, dauntless
   Antonyms: cowardly

2. suitable to the character of a hero in size or concept; daring; noble.

   a heroic ambition.

   Synonyms: courageous, brave, gallant, valorous, valiant, dauntless
   Antonyms: cowardly

3. having or displaying the character or attributes of a hero; extraordinarily bold, altruistic, determined, etc..

   a heroic explorer.

4. having or involving recourse to boldness, daring, or extreme measures.

   Heroic measures were taken to save his life.

5. dealing with or describing the deeds, attributes, etc., of heroes, as in literature.

6. of, relating to, or characteristic of the heroes of antiquity.

   heroic mythology.

7. used in heroic poetry.

   Synonyms: epic

8. resembling heroic poetry in language or style; grandiloquent.

9. (of style or language) lofty; extravagant; grand.

10. larger than life-size.

    a statue of heroic proportions.

noun

1. Usually heroics heroic verse.

2. heroics,

   1. flamboyant or extravagant language, sentiment, or behavior, intended to seem heroic.

   2. heroic action or behavior.

heroic

/ hɪˈrəʊɪk /

adjective

1. of, like, or befitting a hero

2. courageous but desperate

3. relating to or treating of heroes and their deeds

4. of, relating to, or resembling the heroes of classical mythology

5. (of language, manner, etc) extravagant

6. prosody of, relating to, or resembling heroic verse

7. (of the arts, esp sculpture) larger than life-size; smaller than colossal

8. RC Church

   1. held to such a degree as to enable a person to perform virtuous actions with exceptional promptness, ease and pleasure, and with self-abnegation and self-control

      heroic virtue

   2. performed or undergone by such a person

      the heroic witness of martyrdom

Other Word Forms

• heroically adverb
• heroicalness noun
• heroicness noun
• heroicity noun
• nonheroic adjective
• nonheroical adjective
• nonheroically adverb
• nonheroicalness noun
• nonheroicness noun
• pseudoheroic adjective
• pseudoheroical adjective
• pseudoheroically adverb
• quasi-heroic adjective
• quasi-heroically adverb
• superheroic adjective
• superheroically adverb
• unheroic adjective
• unheroicness noun
• unheroical adjective
• unheroically adverb
• unheroicalness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of heroic¹

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin hērōicus, from Greek hērōïkós “of, pertaining to a hero”; hero + -ic; compare late Middle English heroical, heroicus

Example Sentences

The film inspires while it challenges: What were any of us doing at that age that was comparably heroic or meaningful?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

No is a whole sentence, and a heroic one at that.

Read more on Salon

Head's heroics came on the back of a blistering spell from marauding pace pair Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc after lunch that sparked a stunning England collapse.

Read more on Barron's

He insisted that he was an independent artist, proving the point by providing decadent, images for an edition of Thomas Malory’s paean to heroic chivalry, “Le Morte d’Arthur.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Stokes is respected for his Ashes heroics, yet most of those have come in the UK.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• bold 
• courageous 
• daring 
• epic 
• fearless 
• gallant 
• grand 
• gutsy 
• noble 
• valiant