heroic
Americanadjective
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Also heroical of, relating to, or characteristic of a hero or heroine.
- Antonyms:
- cowardly
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suitable to the character of a hero in size or concept; daring; noble.
a heroic ambition.
- Antonyms:
- cowardly
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having or displaying the character or attributes of a hero; extraordinarily bold, altruistic, determined, etc..
a heroic explorer.
-
having or involving recourse to boldness, daring, or extreme measures.
Heroic measures were taken to save his life.
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dealing with or describing the deeds, attributes, etc., of heroes, as in literature.
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of the heroes of antiquity.
heroic mythology.
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used in heroic poetry.
- Synonyms:
- epic
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resembling heroic poetry in language or style; grandiloquent.
-
(of style or language) lofty; extravagant; grand.
-
larger than life-size.
a statue of heroic proportions.
noun
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Usually heroics heroic verse.
-
heroics,
-
flamboyant or extravagant language, sentiment, or behavior, intended to seem heroic.
-
heroic action or behavior.
-
adjective
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of, like, or befitting a hero
-
courageous but desperate
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relating to or treating of heroes and their deeds
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of, relating to, or resembling the heroes of classical mythology
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(of language, manner, etc) extravagant
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prosody of, relating to, or resembling heroic verse
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(of the arts, esp sculpture) larger than life-size; smaller than colossal
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RC Church
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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
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performed or undergone by such a person
the heroic witness of martyrdom
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Other Word Forms
- heroically adverb
- heroicalness noun
- heroicity noun
- heroicness 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
- unheroical adjective
- unheroically adverb
- unheroicalness noun
- unheroicness noun
Etymology
Origin of heroic
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Before his FA Cup heroics on Sunday, Welbeck was already the ex-United player to have caused them most trouble in the Premier League.
From BBC
Rarely, too, does "the old man who saved the country" miss a chance to recall his heroics in the bush wars, sometimes exchanging his trademark safari hat for camouflage fatigues.
From Barron's
The penultimate round of pool matches in this season's European Champions Cup brought high-scoring games, last-minute heroics and more teams qualifying for the knockout stages.
From BBC
They would have won by more were it not for the heroics of Everton goalkeeper Richard Wright.
From BBC
But she also pays tribute to the many heroic Poles who regarded hiding Jews “as their Christian duty” and made it possible for Ms. Olczak-Ronikier to tell this story of survival.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
