tritagonist

[trih-tag-uh-nist]

noun

1. (in ancient Greece) the third member of an acting troupe, which always consisted of three actors.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tritagonist¹

1885–90; < Greek tritagōnistḗs, equivalent to trit ( ós ) third + agōnistḗs actor, competitor, agent derivative of agōnízesthai to contend, struggle, compete for the acting prize

Example Sentences

Jake also began pursuing a career in Hollywood and eventually landed the starring role of Dirk Mann, a self-proclaimed "internet daredevil" and tritagonist in the Disney Channel comedy show "Bizaardvark."

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Daniels in HBO’s “ The Wire” and the tritagonist hotel concierge Charon in the “John Wick” movies.

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The second episode in the series, airing Sunday, shows the tale’s tritagonist Fantine at her lowest point: she’s cut off all of her hair and sold it, along with her front teeth, in exchange for a measly sum of money to send to the Thenardiers, a pair of cruel grifters with whom she’s left her daughter.

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Tritagonist, tri-tag′on-ist, n. the third actor in the Greek drama.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

In the time of Thespis the whole of the tragedy was sung and acted by the chorus, while one single actor, called the protagonist, delivered a speech or two, unaccompanied by any music, bearing on the subject of the play. �schylus introduced a second actor, the deuteragonist; Sophocles even a third, the tritagonist.

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