herostratic fame
/ˌhɪɹoʊˌstɹætɪk ˈfeɪm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
4
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "One of the staff of the Hôtel de Rambouillet, an unimportant author who acquired Herostratic fame by his attacks on Corneille, and by his bad heroic poem, La Pucelle."
- "The lack of self confidence have^([sic]) made me pursue Herostratic fame; always make myself look good in comparison to others, thus negating the value of others."
- "Jerzy Limon, novelist and professor of English drama at the University of Gdansk (Danzig), has spun an ironic tale of short-lived Herostratic fame in Poland after World War II."
Etymology
Herostratic is derived from Herostratus (learned borrowing from Latin Hērostratus, from Ancient Greek Ἡρόστρατος (Hēróstratos) + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns)). Herostratus (died c. 356 B.C.E.) was a Greek arsonist who sought fame by destroying the second Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (now in Izmir Province, Turkey), according to tradition by setting fire to it on 21 July 356 B.C.E., the birth date of Alexander the Great.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *sterh₃-, Ἡρόστρατος
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌhɪɹoʊˌstɹætɪk ˈfeɪm/
- British English: /ˌhɪəɹəʊˌstɹætɪk ˈfeɪm/