Trivia Time

What ancient Greek dramatist introduced a "first actor" in a play, later called the protagonist?

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protagonist

American  

[proh-tag-uh-nist] / proʊˈtæg ə nɪst /

noun

• protagonists
  plural

1. the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work.

2. a proponent for or advocate of a political cause, social program, etc.

3. the leader or principal person in a movement, cause, etc.

4. the first actor in ancient Greek drama, who played not only the main role, but also other roles when the main character was offstage.

5. Physiology. agonist.

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protagonist British  

/ prəʊˈtæɡənɪst /

noun

1. the principal character in a play, story, etc

2. a supporter, esp when important or respected, of a cause, political party, etc

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protagonist Cultural  

1. The principal character in a literary work. Hamlet, for example, is the protagonist of the play by William Shakespeare that bears his name.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• protagonism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• protagonists
  plural

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”; see origin at proto-, antagonist

Explanation

A protagonist is the central character in a story: the protagonist of Huckleberry Finn is — guess who? — Huckleberry Finn. A novel, movie, or play might have many main characters, but it can really only have one protagonist — or maybe two in the case of, say, Romeo and Juliet. That's because protos means "first" in Greek, and agonistes means "competitor" or "actor." It can also mean a leading figure in a real-life situation: "Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were the protagonists of the U.S. Civil War." Don't use it to mean "a supporter of an idea or cause"; the word you're looking for in that situation is proponent.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

protagonist protagonists

But the writers don’t paint Macon as a simple villain, or anyone else as a cut-and-dried protagonist.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

But Judith’s insecurities add complexity to a protagonist who commands our attention through every twist of this novel’s labyrinthine plot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Like that film, the new one is an interesting if decidedly uneven work about pop-cultural obsession as an outlet for the more personal and tormented explorations of the protagonist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Spider-Man: Brand New Day marks Tom Holland's fourth standalone adventure as the protagonist and hero Peter Parker.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

These brief vignettes were told from the point of view of 2112's anonymous protagonist.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Our titular heroine is only 13 years old when her escapade begins – a little more mature than most of the director’s protagonists, but still innocent enough not to be jaded.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

Taking a novelist’s care with his protagonists, Mr. Aris shows how they developed starkly different personalities from childhood wounds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

If anything, the movie could have used more of her, although it’s better overall that “Leviticus” prioritizes Naim and Ryan as queer protagonists caught in a chilling loop of escape and reunion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

All three films celebrate highly dominant male protagonists who project raw power, aggression and emotional intensity.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

It’s worth looking at a couple of tricks that allow O’Connor to keep this unblinking focus on his protagonists.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• central character
• central figure
• hero
• heroine
• lead character
• leading character
• leading figure
• main character
• main figure
• principal
• principal character
• principal figure