1
as in courageously
in a fearless manner
struggled heroically to raise three children on her meager salary
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2
as in honorably
in a manner befitting a person of the highest character and ideals
doctors and nurses worked heroically through the night to keep the patient alive
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Recent Examples of heroically
Just weeks after heroically saving a neighbor’s choking 1-year-old girl, an NYPD officer was at it again, saving the life of a 2-year-old boy who had stopped breathing in his Bronx home.
—
Barry Williams, New York Daily News, 29 Jan. 2026
First into his life comes Jessie involved in a shipwreck with her uncle, a past colleague of Mason’s, who drowns in a vicious storm and almost takes Jessie down with him before she is heroically rescued from near death by Mason, who brings her out of the drink and then back to life.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 28 Jan. 2026
Kendricks heroically broke up a fourth-down pass to seal the 49ers’ wild-card win in his first 49ers’ start, making his encore even more enticing, whether his weak-side wingman is again Garret Wallow or regular-season starter Dee Winters.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2026
That’s especially if Niners star LB Fred Warner heroically returns from injury.
—Greg Cote
january 15, Miami Herald, 15 Jan. 2026
Delta Slim heroically sacrifices himself so the rest of the survivors can get away.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Jan. 2026
Efforts to calm tensions have been buoyed by the fact that the man who heroically tackled Akram, fruit shop owner Ahmed al-Ahmed, is himself a Muslim father of two.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Dec. 2025
The enormous machine weighed several tons, and stories circulated about how Kagan had borrowed a tractor trailer to heroically transport the behemoth from Michigan to New Jersey.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 Dec. 2025
An example of this emerges right at the start with Shirin’s first outburst, when Kadyr heroically rescues a goat from drowning and hands it to an old man who claims to be its owner.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 23 Nov. 2025
Barry Williams, New York Daily News, 29 Jan. 2026
First into his life comes Jessie involved in a shipwreck with her uncle, a past colleague of Mason’s, who drowns in a vicious storm and almost takes Jessie down with him before she is heroically rescued from near death by Mason, who brings her out of the drink and then back to life.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 28 Jan. 2026
Kendricks heroically broke up a fourth-down pass to seal the 49ers’ wild-card win in his first 49ers’ start, making his encore even more enticing, whether his weak-side wingman is again Garret Wallow or regular-season starter Dee Winters.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2026
That’s especially if Niners star LB Fred Warner heroically returns from injury.
—Greg Cote
january 15, Miami Herald, 15 Jan. 2026
Delta Slim heroically sacrifices himself so the rest of the survivors can get away.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Jan. 2026
Efforts to calm tensions have been buoyed by the fact that the man who heroically tackled Akram, fruit shop owner Ahmed al-Ahmed, is himself a Muslim father of two.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Dec. 2025
The enormous machine weighed several tons, and stories circulated about how Kagan had borrowed a tractor trailer to heroically transport the behemoth from Michigan to New Jersey.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 Dec. 2025
An example of this emerges right at the start with Shirin’s first outburst, when Kadyr heroically rescues a goat from drowning and hands it to an old man who claims to be its owner.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 23 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heroically
Adverb
-
Tracy spent every moment of retirement courageously battling the devastating effects of CTE.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
-
HIs wife, Sia Thao, organized the family’s escape from their village, keeping her sisters-in-law and the children together and courageously handling being questioned by police who were looking for her husband.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
18 Jan. 2026
Adverb
-
He was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant but was never deployed.—
Kaitlin McCallum,
Hartford Courant,
12 Feb. 2026
-
Several Kennedys have served honorably and without scandal.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
And in 2023’s Hijab Butch Blues, Lamya H (a pseudonym) bravely reimagines the stories of important women from Islamic history, noting parallels with her own contemporary struggles.—
Hafsa Lodi,
Vogue,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Tudor has bravely leapt aboard a sinking ship.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
14 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Zest the limes first, then roll them firmly on the counter a few times before halving and juicing.—
Martha Stewart,
Martha Stewart,
20 Feb. 2026
-
On Thursday Crockett criticized Talarico for not standing firmly against the super PAC ads.—
Gromer Jeffers Jr,
Dallas Morning News,
19 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
These ventures can be heroic, as when Tommie Smith and John Carlos valiantly raised their fists as a Black Power salute in Mexico City in 1968.—
Steve Buckley,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Truly, valiantly, humanely trying their best.—
Heidi Stevens,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Heroically.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heroically. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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