protest
Syllables: pro·testUK/ˈpɹəʊ.tɛst//ˈpɹoʊ.tɛst/
protest verb: to make a strong objection.
Verb
protest (third-person singular simple present protests, present participle protesting, simple past and past participle protested)
- To make a strong objection.
- How dare you, I protest!
- The public took to the streets to protest over the planned change to the law.
- To affirm (something).
- I protest my innocence.
- I do protest and declare …
- To object to.
- "The gay community would love to point to Patti and say, 'She's one of us'" […] I protest the statement I have mentioned, as well as others like it. Few people I know, gay or straight, identify with the often outrageous thoughts of Patti Smith. Among other things, she's indicated in interviews that...1976 February 14, Joan DeForeest, “Irresponsible Inaccuracies Infuriate”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 33, page 5
- To publicly demonstrate against.
- They protested the demolition of the school.
- To call as a witness in affirming or denying, or to prove an affirmation; to appeal to.
- Fiercely [they] opposed / My journey strange, with clamorous uproar / Protesting fate supreme.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- to make a solemn written declaration, in due form, on behalf of the holder, against all parties liable for any loss or damage to be sustained by non-acceptance or non-payment of (a bill or note). This should be made by a notary public, whose seal it is the usual practice to affix.
- To publish; to make known.
Noun
protest (countable and uncountable, plural protests)
- A formal objection, especially one by a group.
- They lodged a protest with the authorities.
- A collective gesture of disapproval; a demonstration.
- We held a protest in front of City Hall.
- All this has led to an explosion of protest across China, including among a middle class that has discovered nimbyism.2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
- The noting by a notary public of an unpaid or unaccepted bill.
- A written declaration, usually by the master of a ship, stating the circumstances attending loss or damage of ship or cargo, etc.
protest meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
protest in Hindi
- formal objection
- प्रतिवाद prativād, अस्वीकार asvīkār, आपत्ति āpatti
- collective gesture of disapproval: demonstration — see also demonstration
- विरोध प्रदर्शन virodh pradarśan, विरोध virodh
protest in Tamil
- to make a strong objection
- எதிர் etir, கண்டி kaṇṭi
- to affirm
- உறுதிப்படுத்து uṟutippaṭuttu
- mostly US: to object to
- எதிர் etir, கண்டி kaṇṭi
- formal objection
- எதிர்ப்பு etirppu, கண்டிப்பு kaṇṭippu
protest in Marathi
- निषेध व्यक्त केला, निषेध करणे
protest in Urdu
- formal objection
- اِعْتِراض i'tirāz, اِحْتِجاج ihtijāj
More languagesFewer languages
- protest in Bengali
- এতেরাজ eteraj
- protest in Telugu
- నిరసించు nirasiñcu, నిరసన nirasana
- protest in Malayalam
- പ്രതിഷേധം pratiṣēdhaṁ, പ്രക്ഷോഭം prakṣōbhaṁ
- protest in Kannada
- ಎದುರಿಸುವಿಕೆ, ಪ್ರತಿಭಟನೆ, ಆಕ್ಷೇಪ, ವಿರೋಧ ಸೂಚನೆ
- protest in Punjabi
- ਵਿਰੋਧ ਪ੍ਰਦਰਸ਼ਨ, ਰੋਸ ਪ੍ਰਦਰਸ਼ਨ, ਵਿਰੋਧ ਪ੍ਰਦਰਸ਼ਨ ਕੀਤਾ
- protest in Gujarati
- વિરોધ પ્રદર્શન, વિરોધ, વિરોધ પ્રદર્શન કર્યું
- protest in Odia
- ପ୍ରତିବାଦ, ବିରୋଧ ପ୍ରଦର୍ଶନ, ବିକ୍ଷୋଭ ପ୍ରଦର୍ଶନ
- protest in Nepali
- विरोध प्रदर्शन, विरोध गर्ने
- protest in Pashto
- اعتراض e'terāz, احتجاج ehtejāj
- protest in Arabic
- اِعْتَرَضَ iʕtaraḍa, اِحْتَجَّ iḥtajja, اِعْتِرَاض iʕtirāḍ, اِحْتِجَاج iḥtijāj
- protest in Persian
- اعتراض کردن e'terâz kardan
- protest in Thai
- ค้าน káan, ประท้วง bprà-túuang, ติง dting, คัดค้าน kát-káan
- protest in Vietnamese
- biểu tình, cam đoan, phản đối, phản kháng
- protest in Myanmar
- ဆန္ဒပြပွဲ hcanda.pra.pwai:
Examples of protest in a sentence
- As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, but I would not go out of my way to protest against it.1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:
- U.S. and European protested against Spanish conduct in Cuba.2009, Cuba:
- It caused controversy, with Sunderland traders protesting that their shops were just as good as those in Leeds.2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 29:
- She flashed a smile at me, and, protesting an engagement with her dentist, jauntily walked on.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “Ch.8”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
Synonyms of protest
Forms of protest
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | protests |
| present participle | protesting |
| past participle | protested |
| past | protested |
| Noun | |
| plural | protests |
Origin of protest
PIE word *tréyes From the Middle English verb protesten, from Old French protester, from Latin prōtestārī, from prō + testor, from testis (“witness”).
Words formed from protest
- antiprotest
- counterprotest
- cyberprotest
- dirty protest
- ecoprotest
- in protest
- methinks the lady doth protest too much
- methinks thou dost protest too much
- nonprotest
- protestable
- Protestant
- protestation
- protester
- protestive
- protest march
- protest song
- protest too much
- protest vote
- protestware
- supraprotest
- the lady doth protest too much
- under protest
Phrases with protest
Words that rhyme with protest
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- guest
- quest
- bequest
- distressed
- pest
- prest
- request
- revest
- west
- wrest
- zest
- contest
- depressed
- dressed
- gest
- impressed
- jest
- suggest
- acid test
- best
- celeste
- divest
- ingest
- molest
- North West
- northwest
- possessed
- pressed
- professed
- southwest
- -cest
- addressed
- behest
- compressed
- congest
- detest
- fest
- infest
- lest
- obsessed
- pretest
- processed
- repressed
- rest.
- stressed
- tressed
- unrest
- unstressed
Questions about protest
- What does protest mean?
- Protest means to make a strong objection.
- What is protest in Hindi?
- Protest in Hindi is प्रतिवाद (prativād), अस्वीकार (asvīkār), आपत्ति (āpatti). See Protest meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use protest in a sentence?
- As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, but I would not go out of my way to protest against it.
- What part of speech is protest?
- Protest can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce protest?
- Protest is pronounced /ˈpɹəʊ.tɛst/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of protest?
- The past tense of protest is protested.
Words near protest in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: protest (page history and authors); protest (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); പ്രക്ഷോഭം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); protest (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); protest (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); protest (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); protest (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); protest (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-protest-noun.ogg.
Cite this entry: “protest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/protest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.