superhuman

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Medieval Latin superhūmānus. By surface analysis, super- +‎ human.[1][2]

Adjective[edit]

superhuman (comparative more superhuman, superlative most superhuman)

  1. Beyond what is possible for a human being.
    • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Francesca Carrara. [], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, [], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 158:
      How often, during her young life, had she looked upon the face of the dead!—it was now almost more familiar than the living. Again she marked the still repose, the calm, cold hue, the superhuman beauty, the look which is not of this world, here strongly contrasted by the troubled countenance of Lord Avonleigh.
    • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
      I could have flown at him, shame upon me! The woman had confounded and almost destroyed my moral sense, as she was bound to confound all who looked upon her superhuman loveliness.
    • 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 15, in Riders of the Purple Sage [], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:
      No doubt, Jane thought, the rider, in his almost superhuman power of foresight, saw behind the horizon the dark, lengthening shadows that were soon to crowd and gloom over him and her and little Fay.

Antonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

superhuman (plural superhumans)

  1. A human with remarkable abilities or superpowers.
    • 2023 November 14, Stuart Heritage, “Actors are back on the promo beat. And – as Adam Driver shows – this time, they mean business”, in The Guardian[1], →ISSN:
      Here is a man who, during a potentially testy moment of promotion, retained the clarity of thought to reach deep down into himself, locate the purest possible version of his personality and say: “Fuck you.” What a superhuman he is.

References[edit]

  1. ^ superhuman”, in Collins English Dictionary.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024), “superhuman”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.