Question 1 · Quick check
superman
CEFRA2
/ˈs(j)uːpəmæn/
noun
Türkçe translations
Translating…
In plain English
- 01
noun
A man with extraordinary strength or abilities.
- 02
noun
Extra detailA fictional comic-book superhero with superhuman strength and speed, X-ray vision, and the ability to fly.
Examples
"Superman" is showing at the movie theatre this month.
Superman flies as fast as a rocket.
At a glance
Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale
- Senses
- 4
- Parts of speech
- 1
- Citations
- 5
Also pronounced
- /ˈsupɚmæn/
Deep Dive
noun
Extra meaningsA man of extraordinary or seemingly superhuman powers.
An imagined superior type of human being representing a new stage of human development; an übermensch, an overman.
More examples
In contextNietzsche wrote of the coming of the superman.
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:...
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.
Related
Quick test
Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.
Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.
Nearby
Origin
noun
A calque of German Übermensch; super- + man. The German word was introduced by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) in his work Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1883), and rendered in English as superman by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) in the play Man and Superman (1903) and by Thomas Common (1850–1919) in his 1909 translation of Nietzsche’s work. Some scholars regard this word as not properly conveying the meaning of Übermensch, and prefer to use the German word or overman. The “person of extraordinary powers” sense was reinforced by the DC Comics’ character Superman, who first appeared in Action Comics #1 dated June 1938.