superman

[ soo-per-man ]

/ ˈsu pərˌmæn /

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noun, plural su·per·men.

a person of extraordinary or superhuman powers.

an ideal superior being conceived by Nietzsche who attains happiness, dominance, and creativity.

a superior being conceived as the product of human evolution.

one who prevails by virtue of being a ruthless egoist of superior strength, cunning, and force of will.

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of superman

1900–05; super- + man, translation of German Übermensch

usage note for superman

See -man.

Words nearby superman

superluminal, superlunar, superlunary, supermajority, supermale, superman, supermarket, supermarketer, supermassive, supermassive star, supermax

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use superman in a sentence

After the Second World War, the Ukrainian-born writer Vasily Grossman once argued that “the superman is born of the despair of the weak, not from the triumph of the strong.”
Eric Greitens’ Embarrassing Fantasies of Political Violence|Phil Klay|June 25, 2022|Time
If you endo on your bike or superman on your skis, your Icon should be fine.
This Kitsbow Shirt Is the Best Damn Flannel Ever Made|jeremyr|November 1, 2021|Outside Online
Sadly, the movie did so poorly it sunk any chance of a Superman 5.
How Supergirl Revamped Superman IV's Story And Made It Work|noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)|October 17, 2021|TechCrunch
Now, Superman is officially losing "The American Way" from his iconic catchphrase.
Superman Officially Gets New Motto, Drops 'The American Way'|noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)|October 16, 2021|TechCrunch

Long is a superman of sorts, the result of a genetic experiment that lets him live for hundreds of years.
Artificial general intelligence: Are we close, and does it even make sense to try?|Will Heaven|October 15, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Can you imagine Superman being handed over to a writer just a notch above amateur?
Wonder Woman Takes a Big Step Back|Hugh Ryan|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What this essentially means is that superman-wannabe white people do not see my people as their equal.
Dear White People: Well-Meaning Paternalism Is Still Racist|Chloé Valdary|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That all-American iconography has always been so potent in the Superman myth.
Christopher Nolan Uncut: On ‘Interstellar,’ Ben Affleck’s Batman, and the Future of Mankind|Marlow Stern|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When she joins Batman and Superman in the Justice Society of America, she does so as secretary.
Wonder Woman’s Creation Story Is Wilder Than You Could Ever Imagine|Tom Arnold-Forster|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Marston wrote that Wonder Woman needed “all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.”
Wonder Woman’s Creation Story Is Wilder Than You Could Ever Imagine|Tom Arnold-Forster|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I dreamed for you a triumphal march of powerful harmonies, a genius, a superman, such as only you deserve.
Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays|Various
To-day the Kaiser claims to have won the victory of "a superman."
The Blot on the Kaiser's 'Scutcheon|Newell Dwight Hillis
These lashes are the vision of the superman, of the one who rightfully possesses strength, happiness, and liberty.
Contemporary Russian Novelists|Serge Persky
It is not beyond the imagination to believe that your Mekstrom Superman might live three times our frail four-score and ten.
Highways in Hiding|George Oliver Smith
And then it came to me that what I really wanted second of all was to possess a body of Mekstrom Flesh, to be a physical superman.
Highways in Hiding|George Oliver Smith

British Dictionary definitions for superman

superman

/ (ˈsuːpəˌmæn) /

noun plural -men

(in the philosophy of Nietzsche) an ideal man who through integrity and creativity would rise above good and evil and who represents the goal of human evolution

any man of apparently superhuman powers

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for superman (1 of 2)

Superman

A seemingly immortal, superhuman comic-strip character created in the late 1930s, who hides his powers beneath the persona of Clark Kent, a mild-mannered newspaper reporter. Only when there is a threat of danger — often to his fellow reporter and secret love, Lois Lane — does Clark transform himself into the caped hero with x-ray vision.

notes for Superman

Superman has been adapted for various radio and television series and a number of highly successful films.

Cultural definitions for superman (2 of 2)

Superman

An ideal of humanity found in Thus Spake Zarathustra, by Friedrich Nietzsche. The Superman, or Overman (the German is Übermensch), is the single goal of all human striving, for which people must be willing to sacrifice all. It is doubtful that Nietzsche thought of the Overman as an individual person.