superhero
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of superhero
First recorded in 1895–1900; from French super-héros
Explanation
A fictional character with extraordinary powers who saves people from danger is a superhero. In real life, anyone who comes to the rescue can also be called a superhero. You know a superhero when you see one: in the movies or comics, they wear costumes and fight crime. Wonder Woman, Superman, Black Panther, and Iron Man are all familiar superheroes who use their superhuman abilities in amazing ways. Ordinary people who do amazing things — saving a child from drowning, running into a burning building for a pet cat, raising huge amounts of money for a good cause — are also superheroes.
Vocabulary lists containing superhero
Hands
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Comic Book Day
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A Boy Called Bat
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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.
The creator and showrunner then warned that the events of his superhero satire’s fifth and final season would be, in his words, “pretty bad.”
From Salon • May 24, 2026
When a superhero satire’s guesses about how bad life could get are outdone by reality, then the fiction has lost its escapist function.
From Salon • May 24, 2026
Two years ago, Marvel superhero Sebastian Stan came to Cannes having transformed into Donald Trump for “The Apprentice,” a performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026
Videos of these endeavors appeared online, and soon other people were calling Manzo a superhero, too.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
“You have to do superhero stuff to be a superhero. That’s what the hero part is about.”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
