antagonist

See also: Antagonist

English

Etymology

From Latin antagonista, from Ancient Greek ἀνταγωνιστής (antagōnistḗs, “opponent”) (ἀντί (antí, “against”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”)), from ἀνταγωνίζεσθαι (antagōnízesthai, “antagonize”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ænˈtæɡənɪst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

antagonist (plural antagonists)

1. An opponent or enemy.
   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     our antagonists in these controversies

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Antagonist of Heav’ns Almightie King

   • 1843, Edward Bulwer[-]Lytton, “A King in His City Hopes to Recover His Realm—A Woman in Her Chamber Fears to Forfeit Her Own”, in The Last of the Barons, London; New York, N.Y.: George Routledge and Sons […], →OCLC, book XII (The Battle of Barnet), page 433, column 2:

     [H]is eyes vacant—his face haggard—his head drooping, the spectacle of such an antagonist to the vigorous Edward, moved only pity in the few, and ridicule in the many.

2. One who antagonizes or stirs.
3. (biochemistry) A chemical that binds to a receptor but does not produce a physiological response, blocking the action of agonist chemicals.
   • 2001: The calcium antagonists represent one of the top ten classes of prescription drugs in terms of commercial value, with worldwide sales of nearly $10 billion in 1999. — Leslie Iversen, Drugs: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2001, p. 41)
4. (authorship) The main character or force opposing the protagonist in a literary work or drama.
   • 2022, Will Wood (musician) (lyrics and music), “The Main Character”, in In case I make it,, performed by Will Wood:

     So God forbid I'm seen just as an average human being / I mean, imagine if antagonists lacked any evil scheme

5. (anatomy) A muscle that acts in opposition to another.

   A flexor, which bends a part, is the antagonist of an extensor, which extends it.

Antonyms

• protagonist
• agonist (biochemistry)

Derived terms

• antagonistic
• calcantagonist
• radioantagonist
• receptor antagonist

 

Related terms

• agonistes
• antagonise
• antagonism
• antagonize

 

Translations

opponent

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: প্রতিপক্ষ (protipokkho)
• Catalan: antagonista m or f
• Esperanto: kontraŭulo, kontraŭbatalanto, antagonisto
• Finnish: vastustaja (fi)
• French: antagoniste (fr) m or f
• Georgian: ანტაგონისტი (anṭagonisṭi), მეტოქე (meṭoke), მოწინააღმდეგე (moc̣inaaɣmdege)
• German: Antagonist (de) m, Widersacher (de) m, Gegner (de) m
• Greek: ανταγωνιστής (el) m (antagonistís)

  Ancient: ἀντίπαλος m (antípalos)

• Hungarian: ellenfél (hu)
• Icelandic: andstæðingur m, mótstöðumaður m
• Indonesian: antagonis (id)
• Italian: antagonista (it) m or f
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: hevdij (ku)

• Malay: antagonis, penentang (ms)
• Maori: hoariri, kaitāwari, whewheia
• Persian: هماورد‎ (fa) (hamâvard), رقیب‎ (fa) (raqib), حریف‎ (fa) (harif)
• Plautdietsch: Jäajna m
• Polish: antagonista (pl) m, antagonistka (pl) f
• Portuguese: antagonista (pt) m or f
• Romanian: antagonist (ro) m, oponent (ro) m
• Russian: антагони́ст (ru) m (antagoníst)
• Slovak: antagonista m
• Spanish: antagonista (es) m or f
• Swedish: motståndare (sv), antagonist (sv) c

one who antagonizes

• Finnish: vihastuttaja, vihanlietsoja (fi), riidankylväjä (fi)
• Greek: ανταγωνιστής (el) m (antagonistís)
• Indonesian: antagonis (id), penentang (id)
• Italian: oppositore (it) m, avversario (it) m, concorrente (it) m
• Kazakh: кереғар (kereğar), антагонист (antagonist)
• Malay: antagonis, penentang (ms)
• Maori: kiritoariri
• Persian: دشمن‎ (fa) (došman), مخالف‎ (fa) (moxâlef)
• Polish: antagonista (pl) m, antagonistka (pl) f
• Portuguese: antagonista (pt) m or f
• Russian: антагони́ст (ru) m (antagoníst)
• Spanish: antagonista (es) m or f

chemical

• Catalan: antagonista m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拮抗劑／拮抗剂 (antagonist)

• Finnish: antagonisti (fi)
• German: Antagonist (de) m
• Greek: ανταγωνιστής (el) m (antagonistís)
• Hungarian: blokkoló (hu)
• Italian: antagonista (it) m or f
• Norwegian: Kjemisk
• Polish: antagonista (pl) m
• Portuguese: antagonista (pt) m
• Swedish: antagonist (sv) c

main character or force opposing the protagonist

• Finnish: pääpahis (informal)
• French: antagoniste (fr) m or f
• German: Antagonist (de) m
• Japanese: 敵役 (ja) (かたきやく, katakiyaku; てきやく, tekiyaku)
• Polish: antagonista (pl) m, antagonistka (pl) f
• Romanian: antagonist (ro) m
• Swedish: antagonist (sv) c
• Tagalog: kontrabida

muscle

• Polish: antagonista (pl) m
• Swedish: antagonist (sv) c

Anagrams

• stagnation

Danish

Noun

antagonist c (singular definite antagonisten, plural indefinite antagonister)

1. (literature) antagonist

Declension

Declension of antagonist

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	antagonist	antagonisten	antagonister	antagonisterne
genitive	antagonists	antagonistens	antagonisters	antagonisternes

Synonyms

• skurk

Further reading

• “antagonist” in Den Danske Ordbog

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French antagoniste, from Latin antagonista.

Adjective

antagonist m or n (feminine singular antagonistă, masculine plural antagoniști, feminine and neuter plural antagoniste)

1. antagonistic

   Synonym: antagonic

Declension

Declension of antagonist

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	antagonist		antagonistă	antagoniști	antagoniste
	definite	antagonistul		antagonista	antagoniștii	antagonistele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	antagonist		antagoniste	antagoniști	antagoniste
	definite	antagonistului		antagonistei	antagoniștilor	antagonistelor

Noun

antagonist m (plural antagoniști)

1. antagonist

Declension

Declension of antagonist

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) antagonist	antagonistul	(niște) antagoniști	antagoniștii
genitive/dative	(unui) antagonist	antagonistului	(unor) antagoniști	antagoniștilor
vocative	antagonistule		antagoniștilor

Swedish

Noun

antagonist c

1. an antagonist (opponent or enemy)
2. (authorship) an antagonist

   Antonym: protagonist

3. (biochemistry) an antagonist
4. (anatomy) an antagonist

Declension

Declension of antagonist
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	antagonist	antagonisten	antagonister	antagonisterna
Genitive	antagonists	antagonistens	antagonisters	antagonisternas

Related terms

• antagonism

See also

• motståndare
• protagonist

References

• antagonist in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• antagonist in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• antagonist in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Turkish

Etymology

From French antagoniste.

Noun

antagonist (definite accusative antagonisti, plural antagonistler)

1. antagonist

   Synonyms: düşman, hasım, yağı

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	antagonist
Definite accusative	antagonisti
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	antagonist	antagonistler
Definite accusative	antagonisti	antagonistleri
Dative	antagoniste	antagonistlere
Locative	antagonistte	antagonistlerde
Ablative	antagonistten	antagonistlerden
Genitive	antagonistin	antagonistlerin