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# protagonist

«protagonist» in Mova's school dictionary: **The main character in a story, play, film or game** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a protagonist, protagonists)

### meaning for a pupil

1) The main character in a story, play, film or game. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protagonist/#m1)

2) A leading person in a real event, or a strong supporter of an idea or cause. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protagonist/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In English lessons, pupils identify the protagonist (main character) and the antagonist (the character or force against them) when analysing stories. In news and history, the protagonists of a debate or conflict are the main people involved.

### examples

- Harry Potter is the protagonist of the books. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protagonist/#x1)
- The protagonist has to overcome a problem by the end. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protagonist/#x2)
- Who is the antagonist working against the protagonist? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protagonist/#x3)
- In «Matilda», the protagonist is a clever girl who loves books. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protagonist/#x4)
- Describe how the protagonist changes in the story. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protagonist/#x5)
- She was a protagonist in the campaign for clean air. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protagonist/#x6)

### note

Countable. Opposite: antagonist. Trap: the protagonist is not always good or a hero; sometimes the main character is a villain. From Greek: «first actor».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «protagonist» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protagonist/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.