Protagonist

//pɹoʊˈtæɡ.ə.nɪst// noun

noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The main character, or one of the main characters, in any story, such as a literary work or drama.
  2. 2
    the principal character in a work of fiction wordnet
  3. 3
    A leading person in a contest; a principal performer.
  4. 4
    a person who backs a politician or a team etc. wordnet
  5. 5
    An advocate or champion of a cause or course of action. proscribed

    "It was toward the end of the sixteenth century that the communities in Venice, Mantua, Ferrara, Padua, and Casale Monferrato, inspired by the Renaissance music, wanted to introduce some modernization into the service. The greatest protagonist of the idea was the encyclopedic Jewish scholar Leon of Modena."

Synonyms

All synonyms
supporterabettoractoradmireradmireradvocate

Example

More examples

"However the protagonist is aware of his own mistakes."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs, “a chief actor”), from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”). By surface analysis, prot- (“first”) + agonist (“combatant, participant”).

Related phrases

course of action

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.