Meaning & use
antagonistic
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Openly unfriendly and ready to oppose or argue with someone.
Grammar: Before a noun or after a verb, often followed by to or toward: antagonistic toward the new manager.
Patterns
- antagonistic to someone
- antagonistic toward someone
He was antagonistic toward anyone who disagreed with him.
The two neighbors have had an antagonistic relationship for years.
Her antagonistic tone made the meeting tense.
adjectivenot comparablebiologymedical
Working against another substance or process, so that the effect is reduced or blocked.
Grammar: Technical use before a noun or after a verb: antagonistic muscles.
Patterns
- antagonistic to something
- antagonistic effect
The two drugs have an antagonistic effect.
Biceps and triceps are antagonistic muscles.
The enzyme is antagonistic to the hormone.
Word forms
| comparative | more antagonistic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most antagonistic |
Common combinations
- antagonistic attitude
- His antagonistic attitude made teamwork hard.
- antagonistic relationship
- The partners had an antagonistic relationship.
- openly antagonistic
- She was openly antagonistic to the proposal.
- antagonistic toward
- The crowd grew antagonistic toward the speaker.
- antagonistic muscles
- Antagonistic muscles work in opposite directions.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hostile
- Hostile is stronger and suggests real unfriendliness or enmity, while antagonistic suggests active opposition or provoking.
- confrontational
- Confrontational describes a style that looks for a fight, while antagonistic describes an attitude of opposition.
- adversarial
- Adversarial is more formal and describes a system or relationship with opposing sides.
- unfriendly
- Unfriendly is milder and does not suggest actively opposing someone.
Opposites
Word family
- antagonist noun
- an opponent or the villain in a story
- antagonize verb
- to make someone hostile
- antagonism noun
- active opposition or hostility
- antagonistically adverb
- in an openly opposing way
Commonly confused: antagonistic or agonistic? antagonistic or protagonist?
antagonistic vs agonistic
Agonistic is a rare technical word relating to conflict in animal behavior or debate, and is not the same as antagonistic.
antagonistic vs protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a story; an antagonist is the one who opposes them.
Practice
Which word best completes: His ___ attitude toward the new team made everyone uncomfortable.
Choose one answer.
Antagonistic means openly opposed, which explains why people felt uncomfortable. The other options describe positive or neutral attitudes.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “antagonistic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.