heroic
nounEtymology Partly from Middle French heroïque and partly from Latin hērōicus. By surface analysis, hero + -ic.
1
A heroic verse.
- Related terms
- heroics
heroic
adjUK /hɪˈɹəʊ.ɪk/ · US /hɪˈɹoʊ.ɪk/
Etymology Partly from Middle French heroïque and partly from Latin hērōicus. By surface analysis, hero + -ic.
1
Of or relating to a hero or heroine; supremely noble.
- heroic deeds
2
Courageous; displaying heroism.
- To stand upon the ramparts and die for our principles is heroic. To sally forth to battle and win for our principles is something more than heroic.1928, Franklin D. Roosevelt, The Happy Warrior Alfred E. Smith, Houghton Mifflin, →OCLC, →OL, page 40:
- Now, we go out there and we half-ass it because we're scared, all we're left with is an excuse. We're always gonna wonder. But, we go out there and we give it absolutely everything… that's heroic.1999, W. Peter Iliff, Varsity Blues, spoken by Mox (James Van Der Beek):
1 more example
- “I am the one who runs from both the living and the dead,” he says early on—not an especially heroic sentiment.2017 December 1, Tom Breihan, “Mad Max: Fury Road might already be the best action movie ever made”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2022:
3
Of a size larger than life, but less than colossal.
- Synonyms
- herolike
- Antonyms
- cowardly
- Derived terms
25 terms
antiheroic, heroically, heroic assumption, heroic cooling, heroic couplet, heroic dose, heroic epic, heroicize, heroicly, heroic medicine, heroic meter, heroicness, heroicomic, heroicomical, heroics, mock-heroic, nonheroic, postheroic, preheroic, pseudoheroic, semiheroic, sheroic, superheroic, ultraheroic, unheroic