as in heroes
a person who is the object of extreme or uncritical devotion
a movie star whose portrayal of a comic book superhero in a blockbuster series has made him the idol of millions
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Recent Examples of idols
Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing, something is unlocked.
—
Danielle Parker, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
No wonder Trump, who wants to erect idols to himself like a Canaanite king, is so upset.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
Pressley became a performance chef after shedding 200lbs himself and entering a cooking competition show for amateurs, judged by one of his idols, Gordon Ramsay.
—Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
The show features a performance by young women dressed as the HUNTR/X idols, courtesy of Royal Entertainers, a San Diego business that provides costumed characters for parties.
—Marcia Luttrell, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026
For the first time ever on Survivor, a contestant found two idols, then got to keep neither.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 2 Apr. 2026
The team harbored a zany obsession over nicknaming one another for heavy-metal stars and other teen music idols.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
Rock stars and their equivalents in other genres often develop their craft in obscurity before being discovered; idols are apprentices, trained exhaustively by their management companies.
—Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
Ubiquitous advertisements on television and social media, often fronted by celebrities and sports idols, are now often the first exposure to gambling for children.
—ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
Danielle Parker, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
No wonder Trump, who wants to erect idols to himself like a Canaanite king, is so upset.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
Pressley became a performance chef after shedding 200lbs himself and entering a cooking competition show for amateurs, judged by one of his idols, Gordon Ramsay.
—Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
The show features a performance by young women dressed as the HUNTR/X idols, courtesy of Royal Entertainers, a San Diego business that provides costumed characters for parties.
—Marcia Luttrell, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026
For the first time ever on Survivor, a contestant found two idols, then got to keep neither.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 2 Apr. 2026
The team harbored a zany obsession over nicknaming one another for heavy-metal stars and other teen music idols.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
Rock stars and their equivalents in other genres often develop their craft in obscurity before being discovered; idols are apprentices, trained exhaustively by their management companies.
—Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
Ubiquitous advertisements on television and social media, often fronted by celebrities and sports idols, are now often the first exposure to gambling for children.
—ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idols
Noun
-
There’s this Swedish actor, Ernst-Hugo Järegård, who was one of my heroes.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Finally, royal jelly—yet another one of nature’s anti-aging heroes—spurs the production of collagen, thus restoring a youthful bounce to aging skin.—
Sophie Wirt,
InStyle,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Bohm, who erected a shrine to the baseball gods using spare bats in an empty locker adjacent to his, just embodies the frustration.—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
15 Apr. 2026
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And if the basketball gods were just, the Warriors would be provided a play-in loss — Wednesday or Friday, either will do — and lottery luck.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
13 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Idols.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idols. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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