heroine means A female hero. It carries an Arena rating of 1503, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, heroine ranks #6,157 of 14,297 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #7,082 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words, #7,152 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #7,156 of 14,410 for Most Ponderous Words.
heroine is pronounced /ˈhɪɹoʊɪn/.
Why “heroine” is a great word
A woman admired for her courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities, or the principal female character in a story. From the Latin hērōīna, from the late Ancient Greek ἡρωΐνη (hērōïnē, "female hero"), the feminine form of ἥρως (hērōs, "hero, demigod"); the term entered English in 1587, with the specific sense of 'female lead character' emerging in 1715. Unlike the default-gendered "hero" or the clinically neutral "protagonist," "heroine" is a word stitched with intention—its final syllable a soft but insistent mark of difference. She is the queen holding the gate, the nurse defying the plague, the girl turning a midnight page to rewrite her fate—a vessel for the quiet insistence that grace under pressure has a feminine face.
Etymology
From Latin hērōīna, from late Ancient Greek ἡρωΐνη (hērōḯnē) (2nd century), a feminine equivalent of ἥρως (hḗrōs, “hero, demigod”), equivalent to hero + -ine (suffix forming feminine nouns).
* English from 1587. The sense of "female lead character" is from 1715.
noun
- A female hero.
- A female lead character.“Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.”
adj
- Characteristic of a heroine; heroic.“Theoxena to free hir Siſters children and hir owne from the laſciuious embraces of King Phillip, put weapons into their weaker hands, and perſwaded them Vt imminens ludibrium morte effugerent; to reſcue themſelues by Death from imminent diſgrace, wherein ſhe had no ſooner preuailed, but with a heroine reſolution ſhe ſhewed them by hir owne example, that what ſhee had taught them, was eaſie to be d”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- heroic 89% match — Of or relating to a hero or heroine; supremely noble. vs heroine →
- heroism 86% match — The qualities characteristic of a hero, such as courage, bravery, fortitude, selflessness, etc.; the display of such qualities. vs heroine →
- protagonist 85% match — The main character, or one of the main characters, in any story, such as a literary work or drama. vs heroine →
- antihero 83% match — A protagonist who proceeds in an unheroic manner, such as by criminal means, via cowardly actions, or for mercenary goals. vs heroine →
- virago 82% match — A woman given to undue belligerence or ill manner at the slightest provocation. vs heroine →
- everywoman 82% match — In fiction, drama, or allegory, the archetypical ordinary woman. vs heroine →
- gallant 82% match — Brave, valiant, courteous, especially with regard to male attitudes towards women. vs heroine →
- gallantry 82% match — courage. vs heroine →