Word.ws English Dictionary

role model

role model noun: a person who serves as an example, or whose behavior is emulated by others.

Noun

role model (plural role models)

  1. A person who serves as an example, or whose behavior is emulated by others.
    • Where's my wife and family? / What if I die here? / Who'll be my role model / Now that my role model is gone, gone?1986, Paul Simon, “You Can Call Me Al”, in Graceland
    • Shepard: I don't have time for this, Conrad. I'm not here to be a role model.
      Conrad Verner: Oh, I see how it is. Commander Shepard doesn't have time for the little people!
      Conrad Verner: Far be it for me to get in your way! You go be a hero.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel

role model meaning in Tamil, Malay, Indonesian and Persian

role model in Tamil

முன்மாதிரி, முன்னுதாரணர்

role model in Malay

person who serves as an example
suri teladan

role model in Indonesian

person who serves as an example
model peranan, panutan, suri teladan

role model in Persian

person who serves as an example
الگو olgu, اسوه osve, نمونه nemune, سرمشق sar mashq
More languagesFewer languages
role model in Thai
บุคคลต้นแบบ bùk-kon-dtôn-bɛ̀ɛp

Synonyms of role model

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of role model

Forms of role model

pluralrole models
alternative formrole-model
alternative formrolemodel
alternative formrôle model

Origin of role model

Coined by sociologist Robert K. Merton. First use appears c. 1944 in the American Sociological Review.

Questions about role model

What does role model mean?
Role model means a person who serves as an example, or whose behavior is emulated by others.
What is role model in Tamil?
Role model in Tamil is முன்மாதிரி, முன்னுதாரணர். See Role model meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is role model?
Role model is a noun.
What is the plural of role model?
The plural of role model is role models.

Words near role model in the dictionary

  1. role
  2. role activity diagram
  3. role activity diagrams
  4. role conflict
  5. role conflicts
  6. role model
  7. role models
  8. role play
  9. role played
  10. role player
  11. role players

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: role model (page history and authors); role model (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-role model.wav.

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