folk hero

noun

: a person who is greatly admired by many people of a particular kind or in a particular place
He has become a folk hero in his home state because of the work he has done to help poor children.

Examples of folk hero in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Mangione is the 27-year-old accused of killing the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare and touted by some as a sort of folk hero for his anticapitalist manifesto. Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026 But her long and complicated relationship with the Ukrainian folk hero Klitschko — regarded by many boxing insiders as one of the most physically and mentally dominant heavyweight champions of all time — was less known to casual fans. Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 17 Aug. 2026 Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai was named after Malala of Maiwand, the folk hero famous for rallying Afghan forces against the British during the Second Afghan War. Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2026 Mangione has become some sort of folk hero to some and cited by some charged with other crimes. Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 13 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for folk hero

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Cite this Entry

“Folk hero.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/folk%20hero. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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