"Junak" is a brave a man of great courage, and "heroj" is the one who did extraordinarily courageous acts, even at the cost of his/her life.

I think Kamenko gave you an excellent definination. I´ll just give you some examples for ¨junak ¨ 1. Plašio/la si se zubara, ali si uspeo/la da prebrodiš svoj strah i odeš kod zubara. Baš si pravi junak. --- You were afraid of dentist, but you got to overcome your fear and go to the denist. You are the true hero. 2. Isus Hrist je naš heroj. On je rizikovao svoj život da bi nas spasao. - Jesus Christ is our hero. He risked his life to save us. I hope I helped you a bit. If you need any help more, feel free to contact me.

Nothing to add regarding definition, but I might add a few examples: 1. narodni heroj - common expression related to period of communism. Those are people who have done extraordinary things for their country during the war (II World War) 2. narodni junak such as Marko Kraljević, Banović Strahinja,whom you may find in Serbian epic poetry. These are usually fictive heroes. Some of them moved from fact to fiction.

Good question Justin--they really do seem to be used interchangeably at times (so it can be confusing!). Since I'm learning like you I can't give you my opinion, but I'll give you what the dictionary says: "junak": 1) smeo, hrabar, odvažan, neustrašiv čovek, onaj koji se ističe smelošću, hrabrošću, neustrašivošću (obično u ratu, borbi). 2) a. onaj koji se svojim izuzetnim osobinama i delatnošću izdvaja u određenoj sredini, vremenu ili situaciji, onaj koji je zaslužan za ostvarivanje kakvog velikog poduhvata, ličnost koja učini kakav podvig, centralna ličnost; b. onaj koji se odlikuje izuzuetnim sposobnostima, čvrstinom, odlučnošću u nekom području dealtnosti. 3) ličnost (obično glavna) u umetničkom delu (romanu, propoveci, drami, filmu, i sl.) "heroj": (grčki) 1.) polubog u grčkoj mitologiji. 2.) a. veliki junak, izuzetno hrabar čovek; b. veliki čovek svoga vremena, veliki duh; c. osoba sa jednom istaknutom vrlinom. I'm not sure if you can understand it all--if you need it I can give you a rough definition. Otherwise, I'd just say to go with Kamenko's excellent definition.

All comments are correct. But, simple explanation is: "junak" and "heroj" are synonyms. "Junak" is more traditional one, and "heroj" more modern (although has root in ancient Greece), coming in Serbian via English (or maybe French). In modern Serbian language if you are talking about someone from national history in epic style, common is to say "junak". During the period of Socialist Yugoslavia, in common use was "heroj" (... narodni ~ /who fight against Nazi Germans/, ... ~ of work)