antagonist
pronunciation
How to pronounce antagonist in British English:
UK [ænˈtægənɪst]
How to pronounce antagonist in American English:
US [ænˈtæɡənɪst]
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- Noun:
- someone who offers opposition
- a muscle that relaxes while another contracts
- a drug that neutralizes or counteracts the effects of another drug
Word Origin
- antagonist
- antagonist: [16] Greek agón (source of English agony) meant ‘contest, conflict’. Hence the concept of ‘struggling against (anti-) someone’ was conveyed in Greek by the verb antagōnízesthai. The derived noun antagōnistés entered English via French or late Latin.=> agony
- antagonist (n.)
- 1590s, from French antagoniste (16c.) or directly from Late Latin antagonista, from Greek antagonistes "competitor, opponent, rival," agent noun from antagonizesthai "to struggle against, oppose, be a rival," from anti- "against" (see anti-) + agonizesthai "to contend for a prize," from agon "contest" (see agony). Originally in battle or sport, extended 1620s to any sphere of human activity.
Synonym
Antonym
Example
- 1. If china does one day become an explicit antagonist , it seems likely that the anxiety among chinese-americans will be even more intense than that of american jews every time the allegiances of the american-jewish lobby are questioned .
- 2. Alexander kamanin , a just russia deputy in astrakhan , says that the local party structure needed only a " push " - ie , mr shein 's loss in a fiddled election-to become a vocal and active antagonist of the kremlin .
- 3. Unlike mr chirac , though , mr sarkozy seeks to achieve these aims as a partner of america , not an antagonist .
- 4. They blame violent movies , or video games , or midnight screenings , or lax gun laws , or bullies , or satan , although only one of those things measured up in the mind of eric harris as an antagonist worthy of his time and attention .
- 5. The american experiment in iraq has taught iran 's ageing revolutionaries that the eviction of an old antagonist is more than sufficient for the purposes of enhancing influence .