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

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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

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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

Mr. Smith’s protagonist is Mignon Langnas, whose letters and diaries provide a human thread in a notably inhumane tapestry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

We want to be a protagonist in the Champions League.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

He could cast himself as the ornery protagonist, also named Larry David; hire all his comedy-club and actor friends; and allow years to slip by between seasons.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

With that, “Chronovisor” and its obsessed protagonist enter a trancelike, analog-heavy state in which obscure texts in myriad languages tease a concealed parascientific history of potentially great importance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Helen, once a peripheral figure in these discussions, became the epicenter, instigator, and protagonist.

From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride

John Field, one of Li’s two protagonists, was in fact a classical pianist of some repute, having invented the nocturne form of composition that Chopin would make famous in Field’s lifetime.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

The witches are thus visible manifestations of internal malevolent urges, and the 12 dancer witches who supplemented the large singing chorus of hags appeared throughout the evening—observing, slipping through walls, and egging the protagonists on.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

The show redirects focus to Cathy Ames, the wife of one of the novel’s protagonists and one of the most beguiling characters in American literature.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Pre-orders of the game - which features the series' first female playable character, Lucia and her partner Jason, as the main protagonists - are already thought to have been worth hundreds of millions.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Not even the chronology is described in conventional language: the century is an aging person, a contemporary of the story’s protagonists.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

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Related Words

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

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