superman
su·per·man/ˈsupɚmæn/noun
superman is spelled S-U-P-E-R-M-A-N: 8 letters and 3 syllables (su·per·man). It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, superman means “An imagined superior type of human being representing a new stage of human development; an übermensch; (loosely), a man of extraordinary powers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of superman is supermen.
How many letters and syllables are in superman?
| Letters | 8: S-U-P-E-R-M-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: su·per·man |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 6,884th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is superman?
Superman appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce superman?
- UK /ˈs(j)uːpəmæn/
- US /ˈsupɚmæn/
Superman has 3 syllables, split su·per·man in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-superman.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Superman.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of superman
- supermen plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does superman mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An imagined superior type of human being representing a new stage of human development; an übermensch; (loosely), a man of extraordinary powers.
Nietzsche wrote of the coming of the superman.
- 2
Someone likened to the comics character Superman; a man of seemingly superhuman powers.
noun
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of superman: a man of extraordinary or seemingly superhuman powers.
- 2
A stunt in which the rider releases both hands from the handlebars in mid-air.
- 3
An exercise in which one lies prone and lifts one's arms and legs, with only the abdomen touching the ground.
- 4
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Superman in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | surhomme , superman |
| German | Übermensch , Supermann |
| Portuguese | super-homem |
| Spanish | superhombre , supermán |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does superman come from?
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. The “person of extraordinary powers” sense was reinforced by the DC Comics’ character Superman, who first appeared in Action Comics #1 dated June 1938.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).