1
as in courageously
in a fearless manner
struggled heroically to raise three children on her meager salary
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
Inside Iran, people are openly and courageously chanting his name.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Williams was given the military’s highest honor for courageously taking on seven Soviet MiG aircraft over Korea in 1952 and knocking four of them out of the sky in what is widely regarded as one of the longest and toughest aerial dogfights in the history of the Navy.—
Gary Robbins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
The 35-year-old lived with purpose, loved deeply, and served honorably.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Dunk eventually became Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, serving honorably and admirably.—
James Grebey,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Play bravely so joy recharges your creative core.—
Tarot.com,
The Orlando Sentinel,
28 Feb. 2026
-
They were placed mid-orchestra, behind the violas and bravely in front of the timpani.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
Adverb
-
Like in 2025, the Longhorns enter Sunday's NCAA Tournament selection announcement firmly on the bubble after finishing the regular season with a mediocre record highlighted by a few high-profile wins.—
Thomas Jones,
Austin American Statesman,
13 Mar. 2026
-
For example, the European Union now accounts for 21% of global generative AI research publications, placing it firmly in the world’s top tier of AI science.—
François Candelon,
Fortune,
13 Mar. 2026
Adverb
-
But while these rocks have acted as a silent witness to generations of climbers who have chalked their fingers and attempted to move valiantly upward, the sport on the whole is at a unique inflection point, with women increasingly stepping in and showing their prowess on new routes.—
Lale Arikoglu,
Condé Nast Traveler,
8 Mar. 2026
-
At times, Fedorova’s valiantly open-minded kinksters can seem blinkered in their own way.—
Lillian Fishman,
New Yorker,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Heroically.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heroically. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
