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superhero

American  
[soo-per-heer-oh] / ˈsu pərˌhɪər oʊ /

noun

plural

superheroes

  1. a morally righteous hero in a fictional work who possesses extraordinary abilities or supernatural powers and uses them to fight evil, as in comic books and movies.

    Many classic superheroes wear masks to maintain their secret identities.
superhero British  
/ ˈsuːpəˌhɪərəʊ /

noun

  1. any of various comic-strip characters with superhuman abilities or magical powers, wearing a distinctive costume, and fighting against evil

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of superhero

First recorded in 1895–1900; from French super-héros

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I guess it was just because I was a little kid and I thought they were superheroes and not people.

From BBC

Instead, they portrayed Dr. Kane as selflessly helping a young girl rise from her sordid profession by providing a proper education—polishing his image as a kind of super-generous superhero.

From Literature

Add to that the November debut of autonomous AI agent OpenClaw that some have equated to the fictional "Jarvis" AI assistant from the "Iron Man" superhero films.

From Barron's

Tynion previously worked at DC Comics, which owns the Batman and Superman superhero franchises that are the bedrock of the American comics industry, alongside Marvel characters such as Spider-Man and Captain America.

From Barron's

Others created battle scenes between iconic superheroes like Wolverine and Superman or between a Transformer and Godzilla.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.