1843 E. B. Barrett Let. 3–5 Oct. in Corr. (1989) VII. 350 The creed of Hero-worshipping bears a distinct testimony to the ‘worshipping of relics’—and ‘give me your autograph’ is a petition in my litany.

1883 Isle of Man Times 10 Feb. 3/1 Such hero-worshipping as Mr Stephen covets, he cannot and will not receive.

1911 ‘P. Harding’ Corner of Harley Street iv. 39 He got enough hero-worshipping next day to soothe the most wounded of defeated warriors.

1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Jan. 51/1 One important aspect of Sir Winston..comes out more clearly in this book than in some of the earlier hero-worshipping.

1988 D. C. Ransom in H. A. Liddle et al. Handbk. Family Therapy Training & Supervision xviii. 298 No other field in the health professions or social sciences could equal family therapy in hero-worshipping, showmanship, and flamboyant rhetoric.

2009 Salt Lake Tribune (Nexis) 25 Apr. I didn't hate sports. I just couldn't care enough about them to get into..the utter pointless rivalries, and the hero-worshipping.

1818 G. S. Faber Diss. Prophecies III. vi. iii. 481 As he is professedly describing those whom he denominates Gentiles..he must needs..speak of their demonolatrous apostasy in terms suited to their prototype the literal hero-worshipping Gentiles.

1879 Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. 11 Oct. 1/1 The English public are at present, unquestionably, in the hero-worshipping mood.

1927 Amer. Mercury Nov. 334/2 Was it really he who was yesterday the guest of this hero-worshipping city?

1978 J. Rosenthal Evacuees v. in Three Award-winning Television Plays 91 He bounces an old leather football in front of him as he walks. Danny watches his approach with hero-worshipping eyes.

1983 R. Ramsay Corsican Time-bomb ii. 30 De Gaulle's support in Corsica eventually fell below the hero-worshipping levels of 1958.

2011 Guardian (Nexis) 11 Aug. (Review section) 36 It's hard to dislike a piece..which often plays out like an earnest and hero-worshipping schoolboy's project on his favourite literary figure.