antagonism

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ænˈtæɡəˌnɪzəm/ UK /anˈtaɡənɪzəm/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
active hostility or opposition between people or forces

There was open antagonism between the two candidates throughout the debate.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · active hostility or... hostility opposition animosity enmity conflict friction

Opposites

friendship harmony cooperation accord

Word family

Related forms antagonist antagonistic antagonize agonist

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

inherent antagonism
Opposition or conflict arising from the nature of the things involved.

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Greek antagōnisma, from antagōnizesthai ('to struggle against'), from anti- ('against') + agōnizesthai ('to contend'), from agōn ('contest').

antagōnízesthai Ancient Greek agṓn Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# antagonism

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ænˈtæɡəˌnɪzəm/
**IPA (UK):** /anˈtaɡənɪzəm/

## Meanings
1. active hostility or opposition between people or forces

## Examples
- There was open antagonism between the two candidates throughout the debate.

## Synonyms
- hostility
- opposition
- animosity
- enmity
- conflict
- friction

## Antonyms
- friendship
- harmony
- cooperation
- accord

## Related Forms
- antagonist
- antagonistic
- antagonize
- agonist

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: antagōnízesthai
- Root: agṓn

## Etymology
From Greek antagōnisma, from antagōnizesthai ('to struggle against'), from anti- ('against') + agōnizesthai ('to contend'), from agōn ('contest').

## AI Etymology
antagonism comes from Greek antagōnisma, from antagōnizesthai ('to struggle against'), from anti- ('against') + agōnizesthai ('to contend'), from agōn ('contest'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the noun sense is "active hostility or opposition between people or forces", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as antagonist, antagonistic, antagonize, agonist, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Ancient Greek antagōnízesthai, Ancient Greek agṓn, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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