Definition of "antiheroine" [antiheroine]

• A woman protagonist, as in a play or book, characterized by a lack of traditional heroic qualities. (noun)
• A woman protagonist whose character and behavior are contrary to those of the traditional heroine. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Her antiheroine tortures detective Archie Sheridan, carving out his spleen, cutting a heart shape into his chest and feeding him drain cleaner."
• "It starts as a heist movie, we're invited to root for the beautiful heroine/antiheroine who is in moral turmoil; and then - well, you know what happens next."
• "Ruby, the silly but likable antiheroine of Hilary Freeman's perceptive and fast-paced Lifted (Piccadilly Press, £6.99), comes from a more recognisable contemporary teen world, where insecurity and boredom are the sources of most ills."