TraceHanzi

主角 meaning in English

zhǔjué

leading role; lead; protagonist

HSK 6noun12 strokes

Meaning of 主角

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

zhǔjué
  1. leading role; lead
  2. protagonist

How to use 主角

主角 is used for the lead in films, plays, novels and games, and also for the central figure in any event. A common phrase is 当主角 (dāng zhǔjué), to play the lead. 她在这部电影里演主角。(Tā zài zhè bù diànyǐng lǐ yǎn zhǔjué.) She plays the lead role in this film.

主 (zhǔ) means main or master, and 角 (jué) here means a role in a play. The main role is the 主角, the person the story is about.

Common mistake: Learners often read 角 as jiǎo, the sound it has in 角度 (jiǎodù), and say zhǔjiǎo. When 角 means a role in drama, it is read jué, so the standard reading is zhǔjué, though you will hear zhǔjiǎo in casual speech.

主角 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

这zhè次cì校xiào庆qìng时shí，他tā将jiāng第dì一yī次cì做zuò主zhǔ角jué。
He will play the leading role for the first time in the next school festival.
小xiǎo说shuō以yǐ女nǚ主zhǔ角jué的de死sǐ告gào终zhōng。
The novel ends with the heroine's death.
这zhè个ge故gù事shì的de女nǚ主zhǔ角jué是shì一yí个gè小xiǎo女nǚ孩hái。
The heroine of this story is a little girl.
你nǐ有yǒu没méi有yǒu发fā现xiàn动dòng作zuò片piàn主zhǔ角jué的de子zǐ弹dàn好hǎo像xiàng永yǒng远yuǎn都dōu不bú会huì用yòng完wán？
Notice how the hero in an action flick never seems to run out of ammo?

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

主 zhǔ · owner · 5 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

角 jiǎo · angle · 7 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7

Related words

Words that share a character with 主角.

主人zhǔrénowner; host
主要zhǔyàomain; principal; major; primary
角度jiǎodùangle; (fig.) point of view
主意zhǔyiplan; idea
主任zhǔrèndirector; head
主动zhǔdòngto take the initiative; to do sth of one's own accord
主持zhǔchíto take charge of; to manage or direct
主张zhǔzhāngto advocate; to stand for
自主zìzhǔto act independently; to be autonomous; to be in control of one's own affairs
角色juésèrole; part (in a play or movie etc); also pr. [jiao3se4]
主席zhǔxíchairperson; premier
主题zhǔtítheme; subject

Questions about 主角

What does 主角 mean?

主角 (zhǔjué) means "leading role; lead; protagonist" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 主角?

主角 is made of 2 characters: 主 (5 strokes), 角 (7 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.

Is 主角 an HSK word?

Yes. 主角 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the opposite of 主角?

The usual opposite is 配角 (pèijué), a supporting role. Someone who only has a small part may also be called 小角色 (xiǎo juésè).

Can 主角 describe a real person, not just a character?

Yes. It can mean the central person at an event, for example 今天你是主角 (jīntiān nǐ shì zhǔjué), today you are the star, said at a birthday or wedding.

定位Previous in HSK 6dìngwèi