1
as in to adore
to love or admire too much
people who hero-worship celebrities are setting themselves up for disappointment
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to overpraise
to praise too much
a golfing pro who is hero-worshipped by hordes of weekend duffers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in worship
excessive admiration of or devotion to a person
once the object of uncritical hero worship, the aging quarterback now faces the derision of his team's fickle fans
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hero-worship
Thomas Smith,
Billboard,
6 May 2025
There’s a kitschy, romantic, hero-worshipping nostalgia to the image, as if Norman Rockwell had undergone a lobotomy.
—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2025
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
5 Jan. 2026
This is the vibe that Edgar Wright is chasing with his version of The Running Man, which hews closely to the original text with a fidelity bordering on hero worship.
—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hero-worship
Verb
In an accompanying statement, Yungblud said that the record explores the theme of hero-worship.
—
Thomas Smith,
Billboard,
6 May 2025
There’s a kitschy, romantic, hero-worshipping nostalgia to the image, as if Norman Rockwell had undergone a lobotomy.
—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2025
Noun
In One Battle, Penn’s Col. Steven J. Lockjaw lampoons the sort of right-wing Americans who are angry about immigration in general and left-wing activism in particular, but his real-life politics showed almost a hero worship, certainly a weird bromance, with Hugo Chávez in Venezuela.
—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
5 Jan. 2026
This is the vibe that Edgar Wright is chasing with his version of The Running Man, which hews closely to the original text with a fidelity bordering on hero worship.
—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hero-worship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hero-worship
Verb
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Thousands of shoppers adore the Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream for its lightweight, anti-aging, and deeply nourishing formula.
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Rob-Will has the support of his adoring wildchild daughter, Oreana (Natalie Alyn Lind), but not of openly distrustful Rip, who gave the gun-toting Rob-Will that punch felt around the Dutton universe in their gas station first meeting.
Verb
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The result is sometimes overpraising, overprotection, and overindulging children, mixing emotional intensity with economic privilege in ways that breed entitlement.
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Know-nothings pretend that Schrader’s Bressonian mannerisms reveal the spiritual depths of contemporary crisis, when, in fact, Master Gardener repeats the same social-collapse paranoia that made secular reviewers overpraise the religious, racial, suicide-bomber topics of First Reformed.
Noun
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This is an agiary, a Zoroastrian place of worship for India’s Parsi community, where priests in white robes stoke a sacred flame around the clock and recite ancient Avestan prayers that have survived three millennia.
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For generations, churches have served not only as houses of worship, but as gathering places where questions of justice, voting rights and public leadership are debated.
Verb
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At issue today is whether or not liking social media posts is an angerable offence on a reality television program.
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Cooley would also like to produce an art book of his favorite photos from the project.
Verb
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Many supported their battle, praising them for taking the step.
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Sebastián Beccacece, the coach of La Tri, praised Ecuador fans in his pre-game news conference.
Noun
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Wong says her journey has been rooted in a fundamental adoration for the pure impact of cuisine and the need to never forget the flavors that carved her family's path to their future.
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The feverish adoration of kolaches, originally a Czech creation brought to Texas by immigrants, is no coincidence at the historic Pearl.
Verb
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Fans, who never had a chance to cheer Les Grenadiers on soccer’s biggest stage, have had to decide where their loyalties will lie while players who perhaps grew up idolizing the team must now convince themselves their idols can be beaten.
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May has two young daughters who, like many girls, idolize Murphy.
Verb
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Owens was begrudgingly congratulated by Hitler, but neither he nor the other Black medalists were ever even acknowledged by Roosevelt, who had also refused to endorse a boycott of the Games—an effort led by Black and Jewish organizations that opposed both Nazism and American segregation.
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In a clip shared on social media, a beaming Kolek could be seen trotting alongside the parade barricade, where scores of fans enthusiastically extended their hands to high-five the point guard and congratulate him.
Cite this Entry
“Hero-worship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hero-worship. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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