protagonist
Americannoun
-
the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work.
-
a proponent for or advocate of a political cause, social program, etc.
-
the leader or principal person in a movement, cause, etc.
-
the first actor in ancient Greek drama, who played not only the main role, but also other roles when the main character was offstage.
-
Physiology. agonist.
noun
-
the principal character in a play, story, etc
-
a supporter, esp when important or respected, of a cause, political party, etc
Other Word Forms
- protagonism noun
Etymology
Origin of protagonist
First recorded in 1665–75; from Greek prōtagōnistḗs “actor who plays the first part,” literally, “first combatant,” equivalent to prôt(os) “first” + agōnistḗs “one who contends for a prize, combatant, actor”; proto-, antagonist
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But when screenwriter Will Tracy sat down to pen his Oscar-nominated script for "Bugonia," he wanted to create a protagonist with a little more nuance.
From Barron's
"The double protagonist angle really is a feature that lets us explore the duality of the characters, but also the storyline and the different horror approaches," Nakanishi adds.
From BBC
Its denizens are mostly nameless, speaking only when spoken to—props in the psychological drama of four young protagonists.
His arcade version of “Donkey Kong,” the author explains, revolutionized gaming for one reason: It made its protagonist—Mario, in his debut—jump realistically.
The unnamed protagonist, known in the scripts as “M,” was so complexly drawn that Weisz is now struggling to externalize the experience of playing her.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
