hero Hear it!

hero Definition

hero (hir′ō, hē′rō′)

noun pl. -·roes

  1. Myth., Legend a man of great strength and courage, favored by the gods and in part descended from them, often regarded as a half-god and worshiped after his death
  2. any person, esp. a man, admired for courage, nobility, or exploits, esp. in war
  3. any person, esp. a man, admired for qualities or achievements and regarded as an ideal or model
  4. the central male character in a novel, play, poem, etc., with whom the reader or audience is supposed to sympathize
  5. the central figure in any important event or period, honored for outstanding qualities
  6. ☆ hero sandwich

Etymology: L heros < Gr hērōs < IE base *ser-, to watch over, protect > Av haraiti, (he) protects, Lith sárgas, watchman

Hero¹ Definition

Hero (hir′ō, hē′rō′)

noun

Gr. Legend a priestess of Aphrodite at Sestos: her lover, Leander, swims the Hellespont from Abydos every night to be with her; when he drowns in a storm, Hero throws herself into the sea

Etymology: L < Gr Hērō

Hero² Definition

Hero (hir′ō, hē′rō)

Heron

hero Synonyms

hero

n.

  1. One distinguished for action

    brave man, model, conqueror, victorious general, god, martyr, champion, paladin, ace, exemplar, prize athlete, master, man of distinguished valor, brave, warrior, demigod, saint, man of courage, man of mettle, lion, star, combatant, worthy, popular figure, great man, knight-errant, a man among men, man of the hour, man of the day, intrepid warrior, fearless soldier, dauntless flier, tin god*; see also celebrity 2, idol 2, victor.

  2. Principal male character in a literary composition

    protagonist, male lead, gallant, main actor, tragedian, leading man, chief character, principal male character, antihero, matinee idol, heavy*, heavy lead*, Sir Galahad*, Romeo*; see also actor 1, cast 2, star 3.

hero Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • conquer: He entered the town like a conquering hero, to the acclaim of the populace.
  • forget: The Northern Echo has launched a campaign to remember a forgotten hero of the Second World War.
  • become: To some, these men were traitors, to others they became heroes.
  • depict: My paper explores the kind of hero depicted by Anthony Hope in The Prisoner of Zenda in relation to the young Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
  • honor: They will teach children to honor the heroes of peace above the heroes of war.

Adjective modifier

  • unsung: I would like to make special mention of the unsung heroes who support the playing side of the club.
  • super: THE ONLY super hero who uses his powers for self gratification!
  • eponymous: Innocent in the House Joseph Pilgrim is the eponymous hero of Andy McSmith's fictional debut.
  • tragic: Here Sassoon seems to achieve the status of a tragic hero.
  • legendary: What nationality was the legendary hero William Tell, who shot an apple from his son's head?
  • reluctant: The story of a reluctant hero sent on a seemingly impossible quest.

Modifies a noun

  • worship: All of whom received a fair amount of hero worship throughout the festival.

Noun used with modifier

  • boyhood: For people of my generation he was Charlton, and he was also my boyhood hero.
  • sporting: What better place to start than with local sporting heroes?
  • hat-trick: His first 3 balls all hit the stumps, making him surely the youngest hat-trick hero in Collegiate's history.
  • cult: But somehow Richard Whiteley survived to become a cult hero.
  • footballing: Now, local footballing heroes like Nigel Clough and Garry Birtles have helped launch a national campaign to meet the £ 500,000 target.
  • folk: In 1404 the legendary Welsh folk hero Owain Glyndwr convened a parliament here during his military campaign for Welsh autonomy.

Possessives

  • welcome: Isle of Wight Bob Dylan walked in from the night to a hero's welcome at the music festival here.

Preposition: of

  • mine: I believe he got it from Pope Leo XIII, who was always rather a hero of mine.
hero Quotes

Roosevelt will probably go down into American history as a great hero. It is one of our Heavenly Father's characteristic jokes upon the American people, and in the usual bad taste.

—Mencken, H(enry) L(ouis)

Being a hero is about the shortest-lived profession on earth.

—Rogers,Will

In this life you have to be your own hero.

—Winterson,Jeanette

See, the conquering hero comes! Sound the trumpets, beat the drums!

—Morell,Thomas

He did the thing that no one else would even dare to think of doing. And that to me's as good a definition of a 'hero'as you'll get. Even when the thing that's done is something of which you disapprove.

—50 Cent originally  CurtisJackson

Every hero becomes a bore at last.

—Emerson, RalphWaldo

Forgive the hero, you who would have died Gladly with all you knew; he rode that tide To Ararat; all men are Noah's sons.

—Wilbur, Richard

'He is coming! he is coming!' Like a bridegroom from his room, Came the hero from his prison To the scaffold and the doom.

—Aytoun,William Edmonstoune

Ultimately a hero is a man who would argue with the gods, and so awakens devils to contest his vision.

—Mailer, Norman Kingsley

I am heartily glad you continued to like Waverley to the endöthe hero is a sneaking piece of imbecilityand if he had married Flora she would have set him up upon the chimney-pieceas Count Boralaski'swifeusedto dowith him.

—Scott, Sir Walter

   Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story. 61

—Barth,John Simmons

   Who sees with equal eye, as God of all, A hero perish, or a sparrow fall, Atoms or systems into ruin hurled, And now a bubble burst, and now a world.

—Pope, Alexander

  So lovely fair was Hero,Venus'nun, As Nature wept, thinking she was undone.

—Marlowe, Christopher

The Huns†chanted a funeral song to the memory of a hero, glorious inhis life, invincible in his death, the father of his people, the scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world.

—Gibbon, Edward

There's no such thing as a heroöonly ordinary people asked extraordinary things in terrible circumstances öand delivering.

—Mo,Timothy

One murder made a villain Millions a hero.

—Porteus, Beilby

Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.

—Fitzgerald, F(rancis) Scott Key

Show me a gambler and I'll show you a loser, show me a hero, and I'll show you a corpse.

—Puzo, Mario

In short he was a perfect cavaliero, And to his very valet seemed a hero.

—Rochdale

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.

—Chesterton, G(ilbert) K(eith)

Claret is the liquor for boys; port, for men; but he who aspires to be a hero [smiling] must drink brandy.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson