English
superman
see also: Superman
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈs(j)uːpəmæn/
  • (GA) IPA: /ˈsupɚmæn/
Noun

superman (plural supermen)

  1. (chiefly, philosophy) An imagined superior type of human being representing a new stage of human development; an übermensch, an overman. [from 1903.]
    Nietzsche wrote of the coming of the superman.
    • 1903, [George] Bernard Shaw, “Man's Objection to His Own Improvement”, in The Revolutionist's Handbook and Pocket Companion, appendix to Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy, Westminster, London: Archibald Constable & Co., Ltd., OCLC 903618586 ↗, page 194 ↗:
      Man does desire an ideal Superman with such energy as he can spare from his nutrition, and has in every age magnified the best living substitute for it he can find. His least incompetent general is set up as an Alexander; his King is the first gentleman in the world; his Pope is a saint. He is never without an array of human idols who are all nothing but sham Supermen.
    • 1909, Friedrich Nietzsche; Thomas Common, transl., “Zarathustra's Prologue”, in Thus Spake Zarathustra; a Book for All and None (Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche; 4), Edinburgh, T. N. Foulis, OCLC 1210069 ↗; republished as Thus Spake Zarathustra, New York, N.Y.: The Modern Library, [1940s?], OCLC 11993131 ↗, page 6 ↗:
      And Zarathustra spake thus unto the people: / I teach you the Superman. Man is something that is to be surpassed. What have ye done to surpass man? / […] What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock, a thing of shame. And just the same shall man be to the Superman: a laughing-stock, a thing of shame.
  2. A person of extraordinary or seemingly superhuman powers.
    He worked like a superman to single-handedly complete the project on time.
Antonyms Translations Translations
  • French: superman
  • German: Supermann
  • Portuguese: super-homem
  • Russian: суперме́н
  • Spanish: supermán
Superman
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈs(j)uːpə(ɹ)mæn/
  • (GA) IPA: /ˈsupɚmæn/
Proper noun
  1. A fictional comic-book superhero with superhuman strength and speed, x-ray vision, and the ability to fly. [from 1933.]
    • 2000, Lisa Germany, Harwell Hamilton Harris, Univ of California Press (ISBN 9780520226197), page vii:
      […] hoping against hope that she, with something like Superman's X-ray vision, might see through the photograph and behind it to the truth about Harris's architecture.
    • 2002, Autocar, page viii:
      But here's the big question: can this rip-snorting derivative lay 210 bhp down through its front wheels without forcing you to maintain Superman levels of grip on the steering wheel? Yes.
    • 2010, Michael Sullivan, The Alliance, Lulu.com (ISBN 9780557235995), page 149:
      In fact, everyone was used to her Superman-like strength. She made her way through the circuit of machines Mr. Connors had marked for them and ended up at the squat station. As she was placing the weight on the bar, she noticed […]
Translations
  • French: Superman
  • German: Superman
  • Italian: Superman
  • Portuguese: Superman, Super-Homem
  • Russian: Суперме́н
  • Spanish: ultrahombre
Noun

superman (plural supermans or Supermen)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of superman: a strong, tough or resistant man.
  2. (motorcycling, plural Supermans) A stunt in which the rider releases both hands from the handlebars in mid-air.
  3. A flavor of ice cream that is a mixture of blue moon ice cream, and other ice cream flavors that are colored red and yellow.


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