Definition

Noun: 1. Excessive admiration for a person, especially a famous or historical figure: The term refers to an intense, often uncritical, admiration for individuals perceived as heroes or as exceptionally great, focusing on their achievements or idealized qualities.

Usage

• As a subject: Hero worship can influence how societies view their leaders.
• As an object: The biography avoided promoting simple hero worship of its subject.
• With prepositions: military leaders was common in that era.

Examples

• The young boy's hero worship for the astronaut was evident in his room covered in posters.
• The historian warned against hero worship, arguing it prevents a clear understanding of a figure's flaws and complexities.
• Their hero worship of the founding fathers sometimes ignored the contradictions in historical records.

Advanced Usage

• As a concept in sociology/popular culture: The term is often used in academic and critical discourse to analyze fan culture, political leadership, and historical narrative.
  • The study examined the phenomenon of hero worship in online fan communities.

Variants and Related Words

• Hero-worship (verb): To admire or treat someone as a hero, often excessively.
  • He tends to hero-worship successful entrepreneurs, overlooking their business controversies.
• Hero-worshipper (noun): A person who engages in hero worship.
  • She was an ardent hero-worshipper of the classical composer.

Synonyms

• Idolization: The act of admiring or loving someone very much, often blindly.
• Adulation: Excessive admiration or praise.
• Deification: Treating someone like a god.

Related Phrases

• Cult of personality: A situation where a leader uses media and propaganda to create an idealized, heroic public image.
• Put on a pedestal: To admire someone so much that you treat them as perfect.

Noun

1. admiration for great men (or their memory)