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local hero

local hero

8 2.8
A person in their community admired for brave acts or kind work
  • noun
translation icon : héroe local
  • The firefighters who rescued the children from the burning building were celebrated as local heroes by the entire community.
  • become a local hero

You, you create local heroes because, because, because representation matters, right?

Examples

  • In our small town, Sarah became a local hero after organizing a food drive to help families in need.

  • By the early 1980s, Ueland had become a local hero.

    Academic text (2007)
  • So who is this new local hero?

  • A great ride by our local hero and champion.

  • Mr Anderson over there is something of a local hero.

  • Prince William greeted like a local hero as he arrived with his father.

  • The four became local heroes when the company threatened to fire them, and the Japanese eventually backed down.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Kraft refused to let that happen and became somewhat of a local hero.

    Blog text (12)
  • He was something of a local hero but had earned himself some enemies as well.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Jerry Richardson, local hero here, cashed out at the right time and bought himself a pro football franchise.

    Blog text (2)

Synonyms

hero
vslocal hero
1.1

A person admired for brave actions and good qualities

is admired specifically within their own community for good deeds
legend
vslocal hero
256 3.5

A very famous person admired for great achievements

is admired mainly within their own community for specific good deeds
superhero
vslocal hero
  • Informal
31 3.7

A real person admired for brave, kind actions that help others

is admired mainly within their own community rather than as an extraordinary figure
toast of the town
vslocal hero
  • Informal
3 6.3

A person many people in a town or local area admire and like

is admired for notable good deeds rather than brief popular approval

How Admired

legend
256 3.5
hero
1.1
local hero
8 2.8
civic leader
6 3.5

Surface Forms

local hero singular
local heroes plural

Morphology

local + hero

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'local' (of a particular area or community) with 'hero' (a person admired for bravery or noble deeds); together they straightforwardly denote someone admired within their own community. This adjective+noun compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows ordinary semantic rules, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Local hero comes from the simple idea of a local person acting like a hero in your town. When someone saved neighbors or helped after a disaster, people would call them a 'local hero', so today the phrase means 'a person admired for good deeds in their own community'.