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单词 protagonist
释义

Definition of protagonist in English:

protagonist

noun prəˈtaɡ(ə)nɪst
  • 1The leading character or one of the major characters in a play, film, novel, etc.

    the novel's main protagonist is an American intelligence officer
    the hard-boiled protagonist of the movie Blade Runner
    Example sentencesExamples
    • The socializing of men, undertaken by females, is central to her novels, but her protagonists frequently refuse the task.
    • The vast majority of female protagonists are unmarried women at peak reproductive age.
    • In nearly every one of your novels, the protagonist is either unable to have a child or loses one.
    • One imagines that the earth-bound protagonists of later novels would simply not care enough to make the intergalactic journey.
    • He had played the protagonist, Ahab, in the 1956 film version.
    • Her novels introduce strong female protagonists, usually African American, and characters of many colors.
    • The protagonist of Conrad's novel undergoes a drastic change in response to his environment, common only to that specific time period.
    • The film's protagonist, George, considers his life a failure.
    • She also wrote several novels with mixed-race protagonists.
    • For most of literary history, young male protagonists are characterized as orphans.
    • Which would be the book's protagonist, Priscilla or Arthur?
    • Many sitcoms die because they feature protagonists whom the audience cannot relate to.
    • As the two central protagonists evolve, the supporting cast comes into its own.
    • Both books' protagonists become epic heroes in part because their technical mastery allows them to manipulate mass consumer networks.
    • The shattering and reclaiming of memory proceeds in similar ways for most of the central protagonists of the novel.
    • Note that in this case, both gift-giving scenes portray the protagonists in symmetrical, equivalent poses.
    • This is your second novel to feature a male protagonist.
    • In this sense, any reader could be Orpheus, as indeed could any of the novel's protagonists.
    • The protagonist of Hemingway's novel, Jake Barnes, is impotent.
    • The inspector is not always right, and is often as exasperated and confused as any noir protagonist.
    Synonyms
    leading actor, leading actress, leading performer, leading player, leading lady, leading man, lead, star
    1. 1.1 The main figure or one of the most prominent figures in a situation.
      in this colonial struggle the main protagonists were Great Britain and France
      Example sentencesExamples
      • It's the day after the failed wedding, and the two main protagonists are dealing with things in rather contrasting ways.
      • He claims that political reconciliation is at hand if only the main protagonists would arrive at some common interpretation of the document to which they signed up.
      • His approach is not to hero-worship the main protagonists, but to show the struggle of human beings in a historical context.
      • This weekend the UN General Assembly begins another session with many of the main protagonists taking part and in the week ahead the holy fast of Ramadan will begin.
      • It was relentlessly pro-royal with all critical faculties repressed, despite the rather chequered history of the two main protagonists.
      • Such is his dedication to the job that he actually went along to both cup semi-finals to bone himself up on the main protagonists.
      • It opened dramatically, with a huge sheet of dark polythene reshaping itself from sea, to chiefs, to land and then figures of the Treaty protagonists.
      • The pressure of the Premiership survival fight took its toll on two of the main protagonists in a hot-tempered first half at Goodison Park.
      • While the Korean summit made headlines, probably as important is a new triangular rapprochement fast taking place among the three main protagonists of Northeast Asia.
      • The film keeps cutting back from the snow to the real-life protagonists as they relive their experience.
      • Aside from the main protagonists, how many voters have a clear idea of how ‘Corngate’ occurred and what it meant?
      • The chief objective in recording such details is to map the main protagonists in news reporting in an area and to begin to reveal some of the mechanics involved in the production of information for public consumption.
      • An important part of the fantasy is that I am up there, ringside, with the opportunity to interview the main protagonists immediately before and after the fight.
      • However sources close to the five main protagonists have all confirmed their involvement.
      • All three of the main protagonists appear to be in something akin to top form and all were making confident noises after almost error-free rounds yesterday.
      • As an expert in the Soviet Union, he was much in demand and he was generous with his knowledge and insights, both of which had been honed by long hours of study into primary documents and discussion with the main protagonists.
      • For each of the above points and many others I haven't mentioned that the positions held by the main protagonists of this war, up until recently, was to the contrary.
      • It was also unclear what type of relationship existed between the main protagonists in the rebellion.
      • As far as this particular scenario is concerned, ethics may as well be a county in the south of England, so amorally do the main protagonists appear to have behaved.
      • He is doing a feature film on speech codes and political correctness on campus, with interviews directly from the protagonists in the various situations he investigated.
      Synonyms
      chief character, central/principal/main/leading character, chief/central/principal/main/leading participant, principal, hero/heroine, leading man/lady, title role, lead, star, (leading/key) player, (leading) figure, leading light
  • 2An advocate or champion of a particular cause or idea.

    he's a strenuous protagonist of the new agricultural policy
    Example sentencesExamples
    • The leading protagonists on each side traded barbs as they discussed changes that would open the door to challenging evolution.
    • As to the main debate, both protagonists have avoided the real issue of the control of the criminal behaviour known as benefit fraud.
    • It was a quite important issue, and I thank Mr Peck, because he came up with the idea of bringing the protagonists and the antagonists into a debate situation to really get to the nitty-gritty of it.
    • How might we compare the protagonists in the current debate about marriage with those in the earlier one?
    • The protagonists in the GM crop debate tend to overlook either good or bad aspects of GM crops in agriculture.
    Synonyms
    supporter, upholder, adherent, backer, proponent, advocate, promoter, champion, exponent, standard-bearer, torch-bearer, prime mover, moving spirit, mainstay, spokesman/spokeswoman/spokesperson

Usage

The basic sense of protagonist, as originally used in connection with ancient Greek drama, is ‘the main character in a play’. Some traditionalists object to the looser use to refer to a number of characters (rather than just the main one) in a play, film, etc., as for example the play's half-dozen protagonists were well cast, although this is both common and well established. Traditionalists also dislike the meaning ‘a supporter of a cause’, as in he's a strenuous protagonist of the new agricultural policy. This sense, recorded from the 19th century, probably arose by analogy with antagonist, the pro- in protagonist being interpreted as meaning ‘in favour of’. In fact, prot- here derives from the Greek root meaning ‘first’

Origin

Late 17th century: from Greek prōtagōnistēs, from prōtos 'first in importance' + agōnistēs 'actor'.

  • agony from Late Middle English:

    Agony referred originally only to mental anguish. It came into English via late Latin from Greek agōnia, from agōn ‘contest’ (the base, too, of agonize (late 16th century)). The Greek sense development moved from struggle for victory in the games, to any struggle, to mental struggle specifically (such as the torment of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane). The extension in English to an idea of ‘physical’ suffering dates from the early 17th century. Greek agōn is also the source of the dramatic protagonist (late 17th century) from Greek proto- ‘first’ and a agōnistes ‘actor, contestant’ and at the root of antagonist (late 16th century) from anti- ‘against’ and agōnízesthai ‘struggle’.

Rhymes

agonist, antagonist
 
 

Definition of protagonist in US English:

protagonist

noun
  • 1The leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.

    Example sentencesExamples
    • He had played the protagonist, Ahab, in the 1956 film version.
    • Which would be the book's protagonist, Priscilla or Arthur?
    • In nearly every one of your novels, the protagonist is either unable to have a child or loses one.
    • Both books' protagonists become epic heroes in part because their technical mastery allows them to manipulate mass consumer networks.
    • The protagonist of Hemingway's novel, Jake Barnes, is impotent.
    • The inspector is not always right, and is often as exasperated and confused as any noir protagonist.
    • Her novels introduce strong female protagonists, usually African American, and characters of many colors.
    • As the two central protagonists evolve, the supporting cast comes into its own.
    • One imagines that the earth-bound protagonists of later novels would simply not care enough to make the intergalactic journey.
    • The protagonist of Conrad's novel undergoes a drastic change in response to his environment, common only to that specific time period.
    • In this sense, any reader could be Orpheus, as indeed could any of the novel's protagonists.
    • The film's protagonist, George, considers his life a failure.
    • This is your second novel to feature a male protagonist.
    • For most of literary history, young male protagonists are characterized as orphans.
    • Many sitcoms die because they feature protagonists whom the audience cannot relate to.
    • The socializing of men, undertaken by females, is central to her novels, but her protagonists frequently refuse the task.
    • Note that in this case, both gift-giving scenes portray the protagonists in symmetrical, equivalent poses.
    • The shattering and reclaiming of memory proceeds in similar ways for most of the central protagonists of the novel.
    • The vast majority of female protagonists are unmarried women at peak reproductive age.
    • She also wrote several novels with mixed-race protagonists.
    Synonyms
    leading actor, leading actress, leading performer, leading player, leading lady, leading man, lead, star
    1. 1.1 The main figure or one of the most prominent figures in a real situation.
      in this colonial struggle, the main protagonists were Great Britain and France
      Example sentencesExamples
      • This weekend the UN General Assembly begins another session with many of the main protagonists taking part and in the week ahead the holy fast of Ramadan will begin.
      • It's the day after the failed wedding, and the two main protagonists are dealing with things in rather contrasting ways.
      • It opened dramatically, with a huge sheet of dark polythene reshaping itself from sea, to chiefs, to land and then figures of the Treaty protagonists.
      • Such is his dedication to the job that he actually went along to both cup semi-finals to bone himself up on the main protagonists.
      • The pressure of the Premiership survival fight took its toll on two of the main protagonists in a hot-tempered first half at Goodison Park.
      • His approach is not to hero-worship the main protagonists, but to show the struggle of human beings in a historical context.
      • However sources close to the five main protagonists have all confirmed their involvement.
      • It was relentlessly pro-royal with all critical faculties repressed, despite the rather chequered history of the two main protagonists.
      • Aside from the main protagonists, how many voters have a clear idea of how ‘Corngate’ occurred and what it meant?
      • As far as this particular scenario is concerned, ethics may as well be a county in the south of England, so amorally do the main protagonists appear to have behaved.
      • While the Korean summit made headlines, probably as important is a new triangular rapprochement fast taking place among the three main protagonists of Northeast Asia.
      • All three of the main protagonists appear to be in something akin to top form and all were making confident noises after almost error-free rounds yesterday.
      • It was also unclear what type of relationship existed between the main protagonists in the rebellion.
      • He claims that political reconciliation is at hand if only the main protagonists would arrive at some common interpretation of the document to which they signed up.
      • The film keeps cutting back from the snow to the real-life protagonists as they relive their experience.
      • He is doing a feature film on speech codes and political correctness on campus, with interviews directly from the protagonists in the various situations he investigated.
      • An important part of the fantasy is that I am up there, ringside, with the opportunity to interview the main protagonists immediately before and after the fight.
      • As an expert in the Soviet Union, he was much in demand and he was generous with his knowledge and insights, both of which had been honed by long hours of study into primary documents and discussion with the main protagonists.
      • The chief objective in recording such details is to map the main protagonists in news reporting in an area and to begin to reveal some of the mechanics involved in the production of information for public consumption.
      • For each of the above points and many others I haven't mentioned that the positions held by the main protagonists of this war, up until recently, was to the contrary.
      Synonyms
      chief character, central character, leading character, main character, principal character, central participant, chief participant, leading participant, main participant, principal participant, principal, hero, heroine, leading lady, leading man, title role, lead, star, player, key player, leading player, figure, leading figure, leading light
    2. 1.2 An advocate or champion of a particular cause or idea.
      a strenuous protagonist of the new agricultural policy
      Example sentencesExamples
      • It was a quite important issue, and I thank Mr Peck, because he came up with the idea of bringing the protagonists and the antagonists into a debate situation to really get to the nitty-gritty of it.
      • How might we compare the protagonists in the current debate about marriage with those in the earlier one?
      • As to the main debate, both protagonists have avoided the real issue of the control of the criminal behaviour known as benefit fraud.
      • The leading protagonists on each side traded barbs as they discussed changes that would open the door to challenging evolution.
      • The protagonists in the GM crop debate tend to overlook either good or bad aspects of GM crops in agriculture.
      Synonyms
      supporter, upholder, adherent, backer, proponent, advocate, promoter, champion, exponent, standard-bearer, torch-bearer, prime mover, moving spirit, mainstay, spokesman, spokesperson, spokeswoman

Usage

The first sense of protagonist, as originally used in connection with ancient Greek drama, is ‘the main character in a play.’ In the early 20th century, a new sense arose meaning ‘a supporter of a cause’: a strenuous protagonist of the new agricultural policy. This new sense probably arose by analogy with antagonist, the pro- in protagonist being interpreted as meaning ‘in favor of.’ In fact, the prot- in protagonist derives from the Greek root meaning ‘first.’ Protagonist is best used in its original dramatic, theatrical sense, not as a synonym for supporter or proponent. Further, because of its basic meaning of ‘leading character,’ such usage as the play's half-dozen protagonists were well cast blurs the word's distinctiveness; characters, instead of protagonists, would be more precise

Origin

Late 17th century: from Greek prōtagōnistēs, from prōtos ‘first in importance’ + agōnistēs ‘actor’.

 
 
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更新时间:2024/11/10 22:33:48