hero

Syllables: he·roUK/ˈhɪə.ɹəʊ//ˈhɪɹ.oʊ/

hero noun: somebody who possesses great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds.

Noun

hero (plural heroes or (sandwich sense) heros)

Somebody who possesses great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds.
- My mom died a hero on duty.
- "I'm no hero," insists freckle-faced 14-year-old Freddie Hanberry. But to many of the young cancer patients, nurses and staff at University Medical Center here, he is as close as you can get. The "hero" talk began when a national magazine featured Hanberry, who has leukemia, in a special section...1986 August 10, “Cancer victim some kind of hero”, in The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA
A role model.
The protagonist in a work of fiction.
- However, even this great hero of the story is somewhat of a simpleton (when he lets himself be crucially deceived by Peacock Ravana in Vibhisana's shape), and a weakling (when in spite of all his strength he is almost beaten by his own son, one of the rākṣasas)1987, Kamil Zvelebil, Two Tamil Folktales: The Story of King Matan̲akāma, The Story of Peacock Rāvaṇa, →ISBN, page xlii
- Satan is wrongly called the hero of Paradise Lost. He is really the villain-hero or the counter-hero1992, Karuna Shanker Mishra, The Tragic Hero Through the Ages, page 242
The current player, especially a hypothetical player for example and didactic purposes. Compare: villain (“any opponent player”). Not to be confused with hero call (“a weak call against a supposed bluff”).
- Let's discuss how to play if the hero has KK, and there's an ace on board.
(New-York) A large sandwich made from meats and cheeses.

Synonyms:

hero sandwich, more at submarine sandwich
(attributive) The product chosen from several candidates to be photographed, as in food advertising, or with props used in a movie.
- The preparation of the hero food involves any number of specialized techniques food stylists have developed to deal with the demands of photographing food.2003, Solomon H. Katz, William Woys Weaver, Encyclopedia of Food and Culture
- Protect the hero food. Whether the hero items are on a table in the studio or in the refrigerator, freezer, etc., be sure they are identified as hero items and not for consumption.2008, Linda Bellingham, Jean Ann Bybee, Brad G. Rogers, Food Styling for Photographers, page 8
The eye-catching top portion of a web page, sometimes including a hero image; the portion above the fold.
The standout component of a dish; the part of a dish that should take center stage on the palate.

Verb

hero (third-person singular simple present heroes or heros, present participle heroing or (rare) heroeing, simple past and past participle heroed)

(informal, intransitive) To act as a hero (brave person; role model; or protagonist).
- “I don’t think so.” He grinned hugely, revealing smoker’s teeth and halitosis that would fell a rhino. “I don’t think you want to be heroing off just yet. I don’t think you've had a good time in ages.”2009, Kessler, Jackie (Jackie H.), Black and white, page 39
(transitive) To praise or laud.
(transitive) To bring attention to; to highlight; to spotlight.

Proper noun capitalized: Hero

Hero

(Greek) Any of a number of legendary men and women, including the priestess loved by Leander.
(rare) A female given name from Ancient Greek of English-speakers.
- You hear, Count Claudio: I can be secret as a dumb man; I would have you think so; but on my allegiance mark you this, on my allegiance: he is in love. With who? now that is your Grace's part. Mark how short his answer is: with Hero, Leonato's short daughter.,Scene 1

hero meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

hero in Hindi

person of great bravery: नायक nāyak, वीर vīr, हीरो hīro, महावीर mahāvīr, शूरवीर śūrvīr, महापुरुष mahāpuruṣ
protagonist: कथानायक kathānāyak, चारित्रिक cāritrik

hero in Tamil

person of great bravery: வீரன் vīraṉ

hero in Marathi

person of great bravery: वीर vīr
protagonist: नायक nāyak

hero in Urdu

person of great bravery: نائِک nāik, نایَک nāyak, وِیر vīr, بَہادُر bahādur, قَہْرْمان qahrmān, پَہْلَوان pahlavān

More languagesFewer languages

hero in Bengali: বীর bir, আদর্শ পুরূষ adorśo puruś, চারিত্রিক caritrik
hero in Telugu: వీరుడు vīruḍu, కథానాయకుడు kathānāyakuḍu
hero in Malayalam: ധീരൻ dhīraṉ
hero in Kannada: ಮಹಾಪುರುಷ mahāpuruṣa
hero in Punjabi: ਹੀਰੋ hīro, ਜੁਝਾਰੂ jujhārū, ਬਹਾਦਰ bahādar, ਸੂਰਮੇ sūrme
hero in Gujarati: હીરો hīro, વીર vīr, ભડવીર bhaḍvīr
hero in Odia: ବୀରପୁରୁଷ birapuruṣa
hero in Sanskrit: वीर vīra, प्रवीर pravīra
hero in Sinhala: වීරයා wīrayā
hero in Nepali: बीर bīra, वीर vīra
hero in Pashto: اتل atël, اتله atëla, قهرمان qahramān, بهادر bahador
hero in Tagalog: bayani, bida
hero in Arabic: بَطَل baṭal, بَطَلَة baṭala, أَبْطَال ʔabṭāl, نَصِير naṣīr
hero in Malay: wira
hero in Indonesian: pahlawan
hero in Thai: วีรบุรุษ wii-rá-bù-rùt, ฮีโร่ hii-rôo
hero in Vietnamese: anh hùng
hero in Myanmar: လူစွမ်းကောင်း lucwam:kaung:

Examples of hero in a sentence

"I'm no hero," insists freckle-faced 14-year-old Freddie Hanberry.1986 August 10, “Cancer victim some kind of hero”, in The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA:
She is my hero, my heart, my baby till the end of time,” said Gabby's father2011 September 12, Eileen Faust, “5-year-old Phoenixville cancer victim loses fight”, in The Mercury:
Each flag represents a hero, Andrews said, whether a first responder or victim of 9/11, active, fallen, or retired military, special friend or family member.2011 September 12, Jen Armstrong, “Sherrill honors heroes of 9/11”, in Oneida Dispatch:
At the time, with the D-Day invasion of Europe going on, their heroism was hardly noticed.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 1948, page 43:

All 40 example sentences with hero

Synonyms of hero

hero sandwich
more at submarine sandwich
the brave
daredevil
good guy
goodie
Hector
knight in shining armor
lion
lionheart

8 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of hero

Forms of hero

Noun
plural	heroes
plural error-unknown-tag	heros
Verb
third-person singular present	heroes
third-person singular present	heros
present participle	heroing
past participle	heroed
past	heroed
present participle (rare)	heroeing

Plural of hero: heroes

Origin of hero

From Middle English heroes, from Old French heroes, from Latin hērōs (“hero”), from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “demi-god, hero”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to watch over, protect”); if so, related to Latin servo (“protect”). Displaced Middle English heleð, haleð, from Old English hæleþ, hæle.

From Ancient Greek Ἡρώ (Hērṓ).

Words formed from hero

Phrases with hero

5 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with hero

Questions about hero

What does hero mean?: Hero means somebody who possesses great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds.
What is hero in Hindi?: Hero in Hindi is नायक (nāyak), वीर (vīr), हीरो (hīro). See Hero meaning in Hindi.
How do you use hero in a sentence?: "I'm no hero," insists freckle-faced 14-year-old Freddie Hanberry.
What part of speech is hero?: Hero can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce hero?: Hero is pronounced /ˈhɪə.ɹəʊ/ (UK).
What is the plural of hero?: The plural of hero is heroes.

Words near hero in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: hero (page history and authors); Hero (page history and authors); ભડવીર (Gujarati) (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-hero.ogg.

Cite this entry: “hero.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hero. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.