antagonize
pronunciation
How to pronounce antagonize in British English:
UK [ænˈtægənaɪz]
How to pronounce antagonize in American English:
US [ænˈtæɡəˌnaɪz]
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- Verb:
- provoke the hostility of
- act in opposition to
Word Origin
- antagonize (v.)
- 1630s, "to compete with," from Greek antagonizesthai "to struggle against, oppose, be a rival" (see antagonist). Meaning "to struggle against continuously" is recorded from 1742. Related: Antagonized; antagonizing.
Example
- 1. You don 't antagonize him !
- 2. To do anything else would needlessly antagonize the chinese .
- 3. Instead , they 've apparently taught her that the correct reaction is to further engage and antagonize people .
- 4. They were always careful not to antagonize rural voters .
- 5. You don 't want to antagonize .