- 1 a person, especially a man, who is admired by many people for doing something brave or good a war hero (= somebody who was very brave during a war) The Olympic team were given a hero's welcome on their return home. one of the country’s national heroes Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivebig, great, genuine, … verb + herobe hailed (as), become, make somebody into, … hero + verbbattle, fight, rescue somebody, … hero + nounstatus, figure, worship, … prepositionhero to phrasesbe no hero, give somebody a hero’s welcome, receive a hero’s welcome, … See full entry See related entries: Brave
- 2 the main male character in a story, novel, film/movie, etc. The hero of the novel is a ten-year old boy. Wordfindercharacteranti-hero, baddy, character, goody, hero, love interest, narrator, protagonist, trait, villain Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivebig, great, genuine, … verb + herobe hailed (as), become, make somebody into, … hero + verbbattle, fight, rescue somebody, … hero + nounstatus, figure, worship, … prepositionhero to phrasesbe no hero, give somebody a hero’s welcome, receive a hero’s welcome, … See full entry See related entries: Elements of a play, Film plots, Characters in a story, Elements of a story, Film people
- 3 a person, especially a man, that you admire because of a particular quality or skill that they have my childhood hero Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivebig, great, genuine, … verb + herobe hailed (as), become, make somebody into, … hero + verbbattle, fight, rescue somebody, … hero + nounstatus, figure, worship, … prepositionhero to phrasesbe no hero, give somebody a hero’s welcome, receive a hero’s welcome, … See full entry
- 4(North American English) = submarine see also heroine Word OriginMiddle English (with mythological reference): via Latin from Greek hērōs.Extra examples Being short and overweight, he was an unlikely romantic hero. Bugs Bunny was one of my childhood heroes. Don Quixote, the eponymous hero of the novel by Cervantes Einstein is the all-time hero of many scientists. Everyone played brilliantly, but Jones was the hero of the hour. He died a national hero. He returned home from the tournament a conquering hero. He was a hero to all his friends. He was hailed as a hero after the rescue. He was one of the great football heroes of his day. His father was a hero figure to him. In his war stories he portrayed himself as the all-conquering hero. In this album she pays tribute to her musical heroes. James Dean was a cult hero of the fifties. Jimi Hendrix was her guitar hero. John was no hero—he stood back as his friends approached the two armed border guards. John was no hero—he was willing to let others fight. O’Reilly enjoyed hero status based on his ability with a ball. She was an unsung hero of the British film industry. The fight to save the forest turned him into a local hero. The song remembers the brave heroes who died for their country. Tired of playing the square-jawed hero, he sought out more challenging roles. Tom Cruise played the hero. a chance to meet his hero a fallen hero trying to regain his position He was a war hero , but he never talked about it. The Olympic team were given a hero’s welcome on their return home. Tired of playing boring old romantic heroes, he sought out more challenging roles. To this day he remains one of the country’s national heroes.
noun jump to other results
BrE BrE//ˈhɪərəʊ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈhɪroʊ//, NAmE//ˈhiːroʊ//
(pl. heroes) Elements of a play, Film plots, Brave, Characters in a story, Elements of a story, Film peopleCheck pronunciation: hero
