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• superman
  superman

  noun

  a person of extraordinary or superhuman powers.
• Superman
  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.

superman

American  

[soo-per-man] / ˈsu pərˌmæn /

noun

• supermen
  plural

1. a person of extraordinary or superhuman powers.

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

3. a superior being conceived as the product of human evolution.

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

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superman British  

/ ˈsuːpəˌmæn /

noun

1. (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

2. any man of apparently superhuman powers

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Superman ¹ Cultural  

1. 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.

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Superman ² Cultural  

1. 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.

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Gender

See -man.

Discover More

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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• supermen
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of superman

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

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Explanation

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...Superman! As you might be able to guess from this comic book hero's name, a superman is a person with great strength or power beyond that of ordinary humans. The term superman was originally a translation of the German Übermensch, literally "overman." This first superman was a philosophical concept, an ideal human for ordinary people to aspire to. Through the 1920s and 30s, it was common to describe a great athlete or brilliant politician as a superman. In 1938, the crime-fighting, cape-wearing Superman first appeared in comic book form. Superman is credited with being the original superhero.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

superman Superman supermen

The figurative enemy, Hofstadter wrote, “is a perfect model of malice, a kind of amoral superman — sinister, ubiquitous, powerful, cruel, sensual, luxury-loving.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Allen finished with 394 yards, with two passing and two rushing touchdowns, in another superman performance in an incredible game that somehow surpassed the hype that surrounded a meeting between the last two league MVPs.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025

"Viewers were so used to the Stallone/Schwarzenegger/Chuck Norris-type superman characters that the sight of a hero muttering to himself and even tearing up was startling," Seitz observed.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2023

At the center of this universe sits Papageno, a colorful, intractably disorderly oddball in muddied outdoor gear, an everyman turned unlikely superman who, in spurning the cultural mores that would shackle him, rises above them.

From New York Times ● May 21, 2023

The sentiment is understandable, for Kelvin really was a kind of Victorian superman.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Hoult, known for his roles in X-Men, Superman and Mad Max: Fury Road, was announced for the role earlier this month.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

Nicholas Hoult, known for his roles in X-Men, Superman and Mad Max: Fury Road, has been cast in the hotly anticipated Harry Potter TV series.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

There’s a reason “Love Actually” featured a kid in Spider-Man face paint, as opposed to a Superman cape.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Superman has been in love with Lois Lane for years?

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026

“Makeovers are so fun! It’s like the Superman phone booth of girl.”

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

It’s in service of crank conspiracy theories, quack wellness influencers and weird dystopian visions of supermen doing pull-ups to demonstrate their patriotism.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2025

"I adore my players - they are supermen," Guardiola told Sky Sports.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2024

Its race marks an all-time peak in action attained by any camera anywhere — 10 minutes of hurtling chariots, flying horses and berserk supermen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2023

But they are not cartoon supermen; they are human beings — highly skilled and disciplined, but still human.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2022

Piper thought about her dad’s most famous movie, King of Sparta, and how the Spartans were portrayed as invincible supermen.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

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