heroic

Word parts

hero + -ic

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA ^(key): /hɪˈroʊ.ɪk/
• (UK) IPA ^(key): /hɪˈrəʊ.ɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: he‧ro‧ic

Adjective

Positive heroic

Comparative more heroic

Superlative most heroic

1. If something you do is heroic is like something a hero would do; it is very brave or difficult to do.

   To win while wounded was truly heroic.

   Though his efforts were heroic, his failure could not be avoided.

2. If you are heroic you are a hero or like a hero; you do heroic things.

   The soldiers who fought in World War II were heroic men.

3. If story or poem is heroic, it is about a hero or heroes doing great things.

   "Beowulf" is the best known heroic epic of early British literature.

4. (anthropology) If a society is heroic it is at a stage where stories of great heroes are common and wars are won by single heroic warriors. This is often a society with tribes or technology is bronze age or iron age.

   Comparisons have been made between the heroic societies of ancient Greece and modern heroic societies such as the Zulu.

5. A heroic age is a time when great heroes were said to have lived. This is often early in history.

   Homer's heroic age was hundreds of years before Homer live, around 1000 B.C.E.

Related words

• hero
• heroism
• heroine
• heroic age
• heroically