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
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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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hero-worship
Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2025
Machismo is another one of these elements as the doc repeatedly shows a star matador and his hero-worshipping entourage.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2025
Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
Springsteen admires the precision, energy, and intelligence of Bryan’s songwriting, but he’s also clearly charmed by the 28-year-old Navy veteran’s obvious hero worship, puppy-in-a-frat energy, and relentless sincerity.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for hero-worship
Verb
Machismo is another one of these elements as the doc repeatedly shows a star matador and his hero-worshipping entourage.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2025
Machismo is another one of these elements as the doc repeatedly shows a star matador and his hero-worshipping entourage.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2025
Noun
Prone to hero worship early on, Drake hashed out his style in public, dabbling in rap while working on the Canadian teen soap Degrassi: The Next Generation.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
Springsteen admires the precision, energy, and intelligence of Bryan’s songwriting, but he’s also clearly charmed by the 28-year-old Navy veteran’s obvious hero worship, puppy-in-a-frat energy, and relentless sincerity.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for hero-worship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hero-worship
Verb
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This new effort is filled with the most memorable and moving canine moments Friedman has encountered in a life of adoring dogs.—
Kelli Bender,
People.com,
5 June 2025
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Those viral moments shifted her audience away from indie-loving Pitchfork dudes and toward a younger, more female crowd; her recent shows have been marked by throngs of adoring fangirls.—
Kristin Robinson,
Billboard,
5 June 2025
Verb
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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
-
He’s overpraised of course.—
Nick Laird,
The New York Review of Books,
16 Mar. 2023
Noun
-
Prior Department of Homeland Security guidelines banned enforcement in areas such as schools, places of worship and hospitals.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
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However, a majority are against the current administration’s approach to deportation, which includes deporting undocumented immigrants who have lived here for years, raise their families here, work hard and attend our places of worship.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
13 June 2025
Verb
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The San Diego native liked watching YouTube videos of then-St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina throwing runners out.—
Noah Perkins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
17 June 2025
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He’s got a bit of a swagger about him that people are going to really like.—
Andy Mitten,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
Verb
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Mamdani has also been praised as a prolific communicator and has run a social media-savvy campaign.—
Ross O'Keefe,
The Washington Examiner,
8 June 2025
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During the trophy ceremony, Paolini praised her partner.—
Merlisa Lawrence Corbett,
Forbes.com,
8 June 2025
Noun
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The adoration for the Italian characters grew as both filmmakers spent more and more time working with their mostly local crew on location.—
William Earl,
Variety,
6 June 2025
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Hannah Einbinder, Natasha Lyonne and Jessica Williams embrace nudity, mutual adoration and finally learning to stop chasing each other's careers.—
Lacey Rose,
HollywoodReporter,
5 June 2025
Verb
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With help from Patrick O’Sullivan, the former NHL player that Tavares once idolized and who’s now a player development coach with the Leafs, as well as teammate Philippe Myers, Tavares had just completed a post-practice shooting session.—
Jonas Siegel,
New York Times,
9 Apr. 2025
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Alcaraz had spent his whole childhood idolizing Rafael Nadal.—
George Ramsay,
CNN Money,
24 May 2025
Verb
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June 12, 2025 When Caruso's current team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, clinched the NBA Finals, Johnson was one of the first to take to X and congratulate Caruso.—
Ricardo Klein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 June 2025
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The program marked its launch yesterday (June 9) at Amazon’s flagship New York City office, Hank, with an event to welcome and congratulate the interns.—
Sindhya Valloppillil,
Forbes.com,
10 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hero-worship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hero-worship. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
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