protean
Americanadjective
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readily assuming different forms or characters; extremely variable.
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changeable in shape or form, as an amoeba.
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(of an actor or actress) versatile; able to play many kinds of roles.
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(initial capital letter) of, relating to, or suggestive of Proteus.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of protean
Explanation
When Picasso is described as a protean genius, it means that not only was he brilliant, but he changed the way he worked many times. Protean means able to change shape. Proteus was a Greek god who could tell the future, but when he was asked a question he didn't want to answer, he would change shapes. With someone or something protean, you get all the power of shape-shifting, plus some of the menace of a god you cannot control.
Vocabulary lists containing protean
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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.
Protean Funds, which had 500,000 Swedish Match shares, sold its entire holding this week but said it continued to hope the bid would fail "so we again can become shareholders".
From Reuters • Nov. 4, 2022
On Thursday, Evergrande's vehicle manufacturing unit sold its UK-based electric motor making business Protean as it tries to raise funds to meet its obligations.
From BBC • Nov. 5, 2021
Protean in style, erudite in reference, uncanny in effect, these stories and novellas inhabit, conjure, and invent characters written out of history by slavery, racism, and subordination.
From Slate • Nov. 30, 2015
‘Horseplay: Or, the Fickle Mistress, a Protean Picaresque’ Trav S.D.’s script, produced by Theater Askew, both honors and derides Adah Isaacs Menken, a hopeless 19th-century actress with a genius for self-promotion.
From New York Times • Feb. 19, 2015
This is easily accounted for when we consider the Protean forms that the same disease assumes in different individuals; yet, without this classification, the science of medicine could not be studied.
From Curiosities of Medical Experience by Millingen, J. G. (John Gideon)
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.
