antihero
UK/ˈæn.tɪˌhɪə.ɹəʊ//ˈænˌtaɪ.hiɹ.oʊ/
antihero noun: a protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals.
Noun
antihero (plural antiheroes)
- A protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals.
- Alienation: A stage on the downside of the passage wherein the holdfast and the antihero take actions which bring about a disintegration of personality.2006, James Bonnet, Stealing Fire from the Gods: The Complete Guide to Story for Writers and Filmmakers
- JK Rowling says that “girls are very apt to romanticise” the antihero, and reveals that she had been forced to pour “cold common sense” on the startling number of readers who fall for the arrogant, unscrupulous bully Draco Malfoy in her Harry Potter books.2014 December 22, Alison Flood, “JK Rowling ‘unnerved’ by girls who fall for Hogwarts bully Draco Malfoy”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2016
- Synonyms:
- unhero
antihero meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Tagalog
antihero in Tamil
- protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner
- எதிரானவீரன் etirāṉavīraṉ, ஆண்டிஹீரோ āṇṭihīrō
antihero in Urdu
- protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner
- انٹی ہیرو
antihero in Bengali
- protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner
- অ-নায়কোচিত নায়ক o-naẏkōcito naẏok
antihero in Tagalog
- protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner
- kontrabayani, kontrabida
More languagesFewer languages
- antihero in Arabic
- بطل مزيف baṭal muzayyaf, بطلة مزيفة baṭala muzayyafa
- antihero in Persian
- ضدقهرمان, ناقهرمان
- antihero in Vietnamese
- phản anh hùng
Synonyms of antihero
Forms of antihero
| plural | antiheroes |
|---|---|
| alternative form | anti-hero |
Origin of antihero
From anti- + hero.
Words formed from antihero
Questions about antihero
- What does antihero mean?
- Antihero means a protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals.
- What is antihero in Tamil?
- Antihero in Tamil is எதிரானவீரன் (etirāṉavīraṉ), ஆண்டிஹீரோ (āṇṭihīrō). See Antihero meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is antihero?
- Antihero is a noun.
- How do you pronounce antihero?
- Antihero is pronounced /ˈæn.tɪˌhɪə.ɹəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of antihero?
- The plural of antihero is antiheroes.
Words near antihero in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: antihero (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-antihero.ogg, en-au-antihero.ogg.
Cite this entry: “antihero.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/antihero. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.