superhero

English

Etymology

From super- +‎ hero. First attested in 1917.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /s(j)upɚhɪɹoʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

superhero (plural superheroes)

1. Any fictional crime-fighting character, often with supernatural powers or equipment, in popular children's and fantasy literature; a fictional hero who does great things.
   • 1990 February 13, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic):

     Hobbes: Super heroes wear snow pants?
     Stupendous Man: When there's snow out, they do!

2. (by extension) A particularly renowned real-world hero, or one who has seemingly impossible abilities.

   The power is out but you're watching TV? You must be a superhero.

   Thanks for driving out here and towing me out of the ditch. You're a superhero!

   • 1991, Boys' Life‎^[1], volume 81, number 1, page 42:

     Did you know your community has many invisible superheroes? Each day they perform hundreds of amazing feats that make the community a better place in which to live.

Antonyms

• supervillain

Derived terms

• real superhero
• superhero insurance
• superhero landing

 

Related terms

• superheroic
• superheroine
• superhuman
• superman

Translations

a fictional crime-fighting character with superpowers

• Bulgarian: супергеро́й (bg) m (supergerój)
• Catalan: superheroi m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 超級英雄／超级英雄 (zh) (chāojí yīngxióng)

• Czech: superhrdina m
• Danish: superhelt m
• Dutch: superheld (nl) m
• Esperanto: superheroo
• Estonian: superkangelane
• Finnish: supersankari (fi)
• French: super-héros (fr) m, superhéros (fr) m
• Galician: superheroe m
• Georgian: სუპერგმირი (suṗergmiri)
• German: Superheld (de) m
• Greek: υπερήρωας (el) m (yperíroas)
• Hindi: सुपर हीरो m (supar hīro)
• Hungarian: szuperhős (hu)
• Icelandic: ofurhetja f
• Irish: sárlaoch m
• Italian: supereroe (it) m
• Japanese: スーパーヒーロー (ja) (sūpāhīrō)
• Kazakh: суперқаһарман (superqaharman)
• Korean: 슈퍼히어로 (syupeohieoro)
• Latvian: supervaronis
• Lithuanian: superherojus
• Luxembourgish: Superheld
• Macedonian: суперхе́рој m (superhéroj)
• Malay: adiwira (ms)
• Maltese: supereroj m
• Marathi: सुपरहिरो m (suparhiro)
• Mongolian: супер баатар (super baatar)
• Polish: superbohater (pl) m
• Portuguese: super-herói (pt)
• Russian: супергеро́й (ru) m (supergerój)
• Spanish: superhéroe (es)
• Swahili: shujaa wa ajabu m, shujaa mkuu m
• Swedish: superhjälte (sv) c
• Thai: ซูเปอร์ฮีโร่ (sūpexr̒ḥīrò), ยอดมนุษย์ (yɔ̂ɔt-má-nút)
• Turkish: süper kahraman m
• Ukrainian: супергеро́й m (superherój)
• Vietnamese: siêu anh hùng (超英雄)
• Welsh: siwpyr-arwr m, siwpyr-arwres f

See also

• 🦸‍♂️