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, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     our antagonists in these controversies

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     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 878649817, 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.
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)

Related terms

• agonistes
• antagonise, antagonize

• antagonism
• receptor antagonist

Translations

opponent

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: প্রতিপক্ষ (prôtipôkkh)
• 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
• Persian: هماورد‎ (fa) (hamāvard), رقیب‎ (fa) (raghib), حریف‎ (fa) (harif)
• Plautdietsch: Jäajna m
• 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)

one who antagonizes

• Finnish: vihastuttaja, vihanlietsoja, 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 (antagonïst)
• Malay: antagonis, penentang

• Persian: دشمن‎ (fa) (došman), مخالف‎ (fa) (moxālef)
• Portuguese: antagonista (pt) m or f
• Russian: антагони́ст (ru) m (antagoníst)
• Spanish: antagonista (es) m or f

chemical

• Catalan: antagonista m
• Finnish: antagonisti (fi)
• German: Antagonist (de) m
• Greek: ανταγωνιστής (el) m (antagonistís)

• Hungarian: blokkoló (hu)
• Italian: antagonista (it) m or f
• Norwegian: Kjemisk
• Portuguese: antagonista (pt) m

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)
• Romanian: antagonist (ro) m
• Tagalog: kontrabida

Anagrams

• stagnation

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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

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Romanian

Etymology

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