superman

Meaning

1. An imagined superior type of human being representing a new stage of human development; an übermensch, an overman.
2. A man of extraordinary or seemingly superhuman powers.

Synonyms

acid

dose

dot

pane

window pane

Elvis

Zen

battery-acid

demigod

loony toons

back breaker

Ubermensch

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

battery acid

übermensch

superwoman

superhuman

LSD

lysergic acid diethylamide

Hyphenated as

su‧per‧man

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈs(j)uːpəmæn/

Etymology

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.