Meaning & use
heroic deed
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableformal
A brave and impressive action, especially one that helps others or shows great courage.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a heroic deed, heroic deeds, or the heroic deed.
Patterns
- perform a heroic deed
- a heroic deed by someone
- be praised for a heroic deed
The firefighter was honored for his heroic deed in saving the family from the burning house.
The book tells the story of a young soldier's heroic deeds during the war.
She never thought of her actions as a heroic deed; she was just doing her job.
Word forms
| plural | heroic deeds |
|---|
Common combinations
- perform a heroic deed
- He performed a heroic deed by pulling the driver from the wreck.
- a heroic deed in battle
- The medal was awarded for a heroic deed in battle.
- commemorate heroic deeds
- The monument commemorates the heroic deeds of local citizens.
Synonyms and how they differ
- brave act
- More common in everyday speech and slightly less formal than heroic deed.
- feat
- Emphasizes the skill or difficulty of the action, not necessarily its moral courage.
- exploit
- Often used in the plural for exciting and brave adventures, sometimes with a hint of showing off.
Opposites
Word family
- hero noun
- A person admired for brave or good actions.
- heroic adjective
- Very brave or involving great effort.
- heroism noun
- The quality of being very brave, especially in difficult situations.
- heroically adverb
- In a very brave way.
Commonly confused: heroic deed or heroin?
heroic deed vs heroin
Heroin is a strong illegal drug. Heroic means very brave. They sound similar but are completely different.
Practice
The pilot was given a medal for his ______ in landing the damaged plane safely.
Choose one answer.
Heroic deed is the correct noun phrase meaning a brave action. Heroin is a drug, heroicly is not a word (the adverb is heroically), and hero deed is not a standard phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “heroic deed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.