Superheroes

How to spell superheroes

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce superheroes

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does superheroes mean?

1. nounFictional characters with extraordinary powers who use them to fight crime or protect people.

Superheroes in a sentence

• The new film features a whole team of superheroes working together.

• His bedroom wall is covered with posters of famous superheroes.

Where does superheroes come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the plural of 'superhero', a twentieth-century compound built from two much older pieces. The prefix 'super-' comes from Latin, where it meant 'above', 'over', or 'beyond', the same element seen in 'superior' and 'supersonic'. The second part, 'hero', descends from the Greek hērōs, which originally named a protector or a man of superhuman strength later honoured as a demigod, and it reached English through Latin and French. The combined word emerged in the era of American comic books around the late 1930s, as figures with extraordinary powers became popular entertainment. The plural keeps the -es ending that English usually attaches to a word ending in -o that follows a consonant, which is exactly the spelling trap, since the final 'o' of 'hero' is kept and 'es' is added rather than just 's'.

How the word is built

• super- (above, beyond)
• hero (from Greek hērōs: protector, demigod)
• -es (plural after a final -o)