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hero

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Somebody who have great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hihroh

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhɪɹoʊ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Somebody who possesses great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds.

  2. A role model.

  3. The protagonist in a work of fiction.

verb

  1. informalintransitive

    To act as a hero (brave person; role model; or protagonist).

  2. transitive

    To praise or laud.

  3. transitive

    To bring attention to; to highlight; to spotlight.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Somebody who possesses great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds.

Used this way, hero is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Strong
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Warm and admiring
Usage feel
Everyday but emotionally strong

Where it naturally appears

  • Personal/emotional discussion
  • Literature/storytelling

Usage note

Hero is emotionally heavy: it suggests deep or lasting feeling, not a passing mood, so it can overstate a small reaction.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use hero

  • “RAF pilots were the heroes of the Battle of Britain.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

tragic herohero worshipculture herofolk heroyoung herogreat hero

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • heroismnounDerived noun

    The qualities of a hero or heroine.

  • heroicadjectiveDerived adjective

    Related to Somebody who possesses great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • hero sandwichnounCompound term

    A large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments).

  • hero-worshipverbCompound term

    Love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess.

  • hero worshipernounCompound term

    Someone who worships heroes.

  • hero worshippernounCompound term

    Someone who worships heroes.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • heroic poemnounRelated term

    A long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds.

  • heroic poetrynounRelated term

    Poetry celebrating the deeds of some hero.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.