antagonistic
/ænˌtæɡəˈnɪstɪk/an-ta-guh-NIH-stik
/ænˌtæɡəˈnɪstɪk/an-ta-guh-NIH-stik
Meaninglike an antagonist
Common meaning: hostile
- antopposite (Greek anti before a vowel)
- agona contest, struggleLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. · scan
- ista person who does or follows
- icadjective ending: relating to
‘opposite (Greek anti before a vowel)’ + ‘a contest, struggle’ → antagonistic
Journey through time
- Greekἀγών‘a contest, struggle’
- Englishantagonist‘an opponent’
- Englishformed in English from antagonistantagonistic‘hostile’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from antagonist + -ic.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), ANTAGONIST, p.26 · scan
Roots
- ἀγών Greek “a contest, struggle”
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