1
as in to adore
to love or admire too much
people who hero-worship celebrities are setting themselves up for disappointment
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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
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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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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
Nina Khrushcheva, Time, 3 Oct. 2025
Apatow’s descriptions of these early interviews are laced with self-deprecation and hero worship.
—Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 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
The state media and government representatives push militarism and self-sacrifice; school curricula endlessly celebrate Russian war victories; theaters obediently stage works of communist-era patriotic authors; and cities display army recruitment banners and hero worship posters.
—Nina Khrushcheva, Time, 3 Oct. 2025
Apatow’s descriptions of these early interviews are laced with self-deprecation and hero worship.
—Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hero-worship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hero-worship
Verb
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Salvias are adored for their abundant blooms which attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to the garden.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
6 Mar. 2026
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Hollywood creates silver screen narratives adored by the world, but its institution for visual art was getting lapped by smaller cities.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
6 Mar. 2026
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.—
Christine Michel Carter,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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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.—
Armond White,
National Review,
24 May 2023
Noun
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The revolutionary pharoah builds a great city and reduces spiritual chaos by focusing on a single-minded form of worship.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
-
No more climate-change worship.—
Peter Wehner,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Rahman is a security software engineer and likes to study disinformation patterns.—
Ruby Cramer,
New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2026
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Eleanor’s view Trump has never liked a loser.—
Eleanor Mueller,
semafor.com,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, praised Jackson as a peacemaker and humanitarian.—
Matt Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Mar. 2026
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Owner António Silva, 66, has been running his no-frills charcoal-grill shop for four decades, but his newfound fame started after he was praised online by a Chinese influencer.—
Maureen O'Hare,
CNN Money,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Bad Bunny’s adoration for Chile is hardly new.—
Maya Georgi,
Rolling Stone,
4 Mar. 2026
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And yet the 1934 World Cup in Italy was turned into a spectacle of adoration for the Fascist dictator Mussolini.—
Ian Buruma,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As with so many of his generation, Adebayo, 28, grew up idolizing the late Bryant.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Mar. 2026
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That combination of down-home tradition and larger-than-life ambition makes Fuerza Regida the type of band young Mexican boys idolize.—
Tomás Mier,
Rolling Stone,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Queen Victoria used the wire to congratulate President James Buchanan on the accomplishment, widely considered an engineering marvel at the time.—
Phil Diehl,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 Mar. 2026
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Sun brought with her a reply letter from Xi Jinping congratulating the Greek scholars on the center’s opening.—
Chang Che,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hero-worship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hero-worship. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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