unheroic
adjective
un·he·ro·ic
ˌən-hi-ˈrō-ik 
also -her-ˈō-,
or -hē-ˈrō-
: not heroic
unheroic policy changes
the book's timid, unheroic protagonist
We should treat old people better, if only for the unheroic prudential reason that we may one day grow old ourselves.—
Philip Howard
Philip Howard
Synonyms
Examples of unheroic in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And if the moderate theory appears cautious and unheroic, well, it's got nothing on the unheroic inactivity of most Republicans hoping to defang Trumpism, who have convinced themselves that the way to avoid a worse replay of the 2020 endgame is not to fight him openly at all.
—Ross Douthat New York Times, Star Tribune, 7 June 2021
But rational reasoning is no way to reach Josephine, as the adults around her discover one by one — beginning with Spencer, played with commendably unheroic tetchiness by Harington, as his sensitive support gradually sours into parental oneupmanship.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 2 Feb. 2023
From the costumes to the makeup, from visual effects to sound design, the goal was to be as realistic as possible and underscore the movie’s anti-war and deliberately unheroic depiction of an ordinary soldier in battle.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2023
John’s figures are wood stained in unheroic reality.
—Bob Guccione Jr, SPIN, 17 Feb. 2023
Capturing that horror, and giving a very unheroic cinematic vision of war, was one of the main goals for director Edward Berger in his new, German-language adaption of All Quiet on the Western Front.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Sep. 2022
Its stars still burn brightly—perhaps especially so in our own gruesomely unheroic times—with Ernest Shackleton considered by many to be the brightest star of them all.
—Sara Wheeler, WSJ, 11 Jan. 2022
But it’s the Englishman’s perspective — not just that of Hugh, but Jeremy Irons’ dry, decent but fatally unheroic Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain — that this predominantly English-language affair ultimately favors.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 30 Dec. 2021
And yet when one reads through the FDOH documents that chronicle the affair, one is struck by how dull and unheroic the whole thing really was.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 13 May 2021
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Ross Douthat New York Times, Star Tribune, 7 June 2021
But rational reasoning is no way to reach Josephine, as the adults around her discover one by one — beginning with Spencer, played with commendably unheroic tetchiness by Harington, as his sensitive support gradually sours into parental oneupmanship.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 2 Feb. 2023
From the costumes to the makeup, from visual effects to sound design, the goal was to be as realistic as possible and underscore the movie’s anti-war and deliberately unheroic depiction of an ordinary soldier in battle.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2023
John’s figures are wood stained in unheroic reality.
—Bob Guccione Jr, SPIN, 17 Feb. 2023
Capturing that horror, and giving a very unheroic cinematic vision of war, was one of the main goals for director Edward Berger in his new, German-language adaption of All Quiet on the Western Front.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Sep. 2022
Its stars still burn brightly—perhaps especially so in our own gruesomely unheroic times—with Ernest Shackleton considered by many to be the brightest star of them all.
—Sara Wheeler, WSJ, 11 Jan. 2022
But it’s the Englishman’s perspective — not just that of Hugh, but Jeremy Irons’ dry, decent but fatally unheroic Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain — that this predominantly English-language affair ultimately favors.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 30 Dec. 2021
And yet when one reads through the FDOH documents that chronicle the affair, one is struck by how dull and unheroic the whole thing really was.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 13 May 2021
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unheroic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1732, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near unheroic
Cite this Entry
“Unheroic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unheroic. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023.
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