What's the difference between heroic and villainous?

Heroic


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or pertaining to, or like, a hero; of the nature of heroes; distinguished by the existence of heroes; as, the heroic age; an heroic people; heroic valor.
  • (a.) Worthy of a hero; bold; daring; brave; illustrious; as, heroic action; heroic enterprises.
  • (a.) Larger than life size, but smaller than colossal; -- said of the representation of a human figure.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "The performance of Italy and France kind of puts Ireland's heroic non-qualification in context," suggests Sean DeLoughry, giving everyone pause for thought.
  • (2) But 30 minutes before takeoff on our private jet – like a top-end Lexus limo with wings – actress Rosamund Pike has heroically stepped in for the year's hot meal ticket: an El Bulli supper, pitch perfect for a selection of rare champagne, devised by Adrià with Richard Geoffroy, Dom Pérignon's effervescent chef de cave.
  • (3) Sudden cardiac death is frequently an unexpected first clinical manifestation of coronary artery disease and, despite heroic efforts, treatment of sudden death victims is frequently unsuccessful.
  • (4) The popular appeal of the "School Shield" program hinges on believing in heroics; good public policy depends on preventing the need for them.
  • (5) As part of Return of Forces to Germany 1990, a number of Second Armored Division soldiers participated in the heroic rescue of German and American civilians injured in a 32-vehicle crash on an autobahn in West Germany.
  • (6) The first unstable six years of his presidency may not have provided a heroic record, but his second term proved to be important in the restoration of democracy to his country.
  • (7) As a result of the blast, there were martyrs and wounded among our heroic armed comrades,” the military said.
  • (8) At a press conference held outside the temple on Sunday, Oak Creek police chief John Edwards said the "heroic actions" of the two officers "stopped this from being worse than it could have been", noting that many people had gathered for worship at the time of the attack.
  • (9) Such approaches, while often heroic and unusually creative in character, have limited the exportability of hardware or software products to the larger biomedical community.
  • (10) Consequently, the assumption or normative postulate of a 'rational' (scientific) risk assessment and risk management appears to be utterly heroic and, in the end, misleading.
  • (11) Point one read: “Create the rebirth of heroical behavioural ideals of an artist-intellectual… the artist as romantic hero, who prevails over evil.
  • (12) It is part horror-show, part cautionary tale, and partly heroic example.
  • (13) Manufacturing is weak and weakening ; the employment gap between the rich and the poor is the widest on record ; the economic recovery is actually more like an extended stagnation with 12 million people unemployed; the housing "recovery" will be stalled as long as incomes are low and house prices are high ; and quantitative easing as a stimulus, while a heroic independent effort by the Federal Reserve, is past its due date and is no longer improving the country's fortunes beyond the stock market .
  • (14) And I think Chinese media are going to play it out in a very heroic way."
  • (15) Yet there was heroic virtue in the man, in the way he answered the demands of his day job as a civil servant and then devoted what ought to have been free time for his own work to responding to the work of others.
  • (16) The diplomats told Washington that certain themes in American movies seemed to appeal to the Saudi audience: heroic honesty in the face of corruption (George Clooney in Michael Clayton), supportive behaviour in relationships (an unspecified drama that was repeated during an Eid holiday featuring an American husband dealing with a drunk wife who smashed cars and crockery when she wasn't assaulting him and their child), and respect for the law over self-interest (Al Pacino and Robin Williams in Insomnia).
  • (17) And then there's her heroically blunt songs, such as You're Gonna Die Soon , performed to a group of octogenarians.
  • (18) Comrades from the heroic anti-colonial days retired, drifted away or were pushed out – in the case of President Devan Nair in 1985, after a humiliating allegation of alcoholism that he contested.
  • (19) On Tuesday Khamenei used the expression "heroic leniency", which is being interpreted as a euphemism for a softer stance on foreign policy.
  • (20) "This heroic gesture by Hazara families [in Quetta] has inspired ordinary citizens and Pakistan's scared civil society to come out and be counted and basically put an end to terrorism.

Villainous


Definition:

  • (a.) Base; vile; mean; depraved; as, a villainous person or wretch.
  • (a.) Proceeding from, or showing, extreme depravity; suited to a villain; as, a villainous action.
  • (a.) Sorry; mean; mischievous; -- in a familiar sense.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) But I know the full story and it’s a bit different from what people see.” The full story is heavy on the extremes of emotion and as the man who took a stricken but much-loved club away from its community, Winkelman knows that his part is that of villain; the war of words will rumble on.
  • (2) They’re not moustache-twirling villains that are going, “ah ha ha that’s great”, they’re going: “You’re right.
  • (3) Society needs a villain and right now we’re convenient.” “ I will carefully admit there has been an awful lot of almonds planted that maybe shouldn’t have been because outside money came in and wanted to plant,” he says.
  • (4) Reith, “his dour handsome face scarred like that of a villain in a melodrama”, was “a strange shepherd for such a mixed, bohemian flock … he had under his aegis a bevy of ex-soldiers, ex-actors, ex-adventurers which … even a Dartmoor prison governor might have had difficulty in controlling”.
  • (5) The success of Capote paved the way for bigger and more nuanced parts for Hoffman, his turn as the villain in Mission: Impossible III (2006) notwithstanding.
  • (6) Maleficent, Disney's latest film out on 28 May, offers the untold back story of the villain from the 1959 animated classic Sleeping Beauty, with Jolie in the title role.
  • (7) When I was nine or 10 I leapt directly from Doctor Dolittle to Dr No, leaving behind all those stupid talking animals and free-falling into a far naughtier realm of suavely promiscuous government assassins, hot shell-diving beauties and villains with metal hands and messianic plans for humanity.
  • (8) And that’s what we do in drama and comedy: we create our own heroes and villains, so no one really gets hurt.
  • (9) You're a devious villain conducting the perfect crime, like the dashing guest star in the opening scene of a classic Columbo.
  • (10) These villains have limited aspirations, and the man in the white hat has a limited arsenal of era-appropriate weaponry: a gun, a bow and arrow, a few grenades, maybe even a tank.
  • (11) The people shaping the news require a very simple story – they have to be angels and villains.” John Stoltenberg is a gay-rights activist who lived with the feminist writer Andrea Dworkin until her death in 2005.
  • (12) We are not the villains you paint us on your trollblogs.
  • (13) For the real villain – look behind Obama, to the Republican party.
  • (14) It is, according to environmentalist and MP Zac Goldsmith, the most dramatic turnaround of any global green villain ever seen and an encouraging sign that huge environmental challenges can be tackled.
  • (15) As Paltrow explains: “So-called pro-life measures are being used in ways that not only violate women’s reproductive rights, but create the basis for depriving them of their constitutional personhood and human rights.” While it may be easy to cast women who drink in pregnancy as villains, criminalising them does no one any favours, save for those with a broader anti-women agenda.
  • (16) Fleming was intrigued by Engelhard's extravagant lifestyle and when he wrote Goldfinger , published in 1959, he based its eponymous villain on him.
  • (17) In the Kenzie and Gennaro series, like all good detective fiction, the city is as sharp and unpredictable as the villains themselves.
  • (18) Why swapping heroes for heroines is a Top Dollar idea Read more The potential gender-swap casting comes after Britain’s Andrea Riseborough was named earlier this month as a frontrunner to play the villain Top Dollar in a high-profile upcoming remake of cult comic book movie The Crow.
  • (19) Mohammed al-Sabban Senior economic adviser, Saudi Arabia Moustachioed high-up in his country's ministry of petroleum and mineral resources, leader of the Saudi Arabian negotiating team, and a reasonable bet for Copenhagen's most likely villain.
  • (20) For one thing, villains always believe they are exceptional.