antagonist
noun
an·tag·o·nist
| \ an-ˈta-gə-nist
\
\
Definition of antagonist
2
: an agent of physiological antagonism: such as
a
: a muscle that contracts with and limits the action of an agonist with which it is paired
— called also antagonistic muscle
b
: a chemical that acts within the body to reduce the physiological activity of another chemical substance (such as an opiate)
especially
: one that opposes the action on the nervous system of a drug or a substance occurring naturally in the body by combining with and blocking its nervous receptor — compare agonist sense 2b
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Synonyms & Antonyms for antagonist
Synonyms
adversary, enemy, foe, hostile, opponent
Antonyms
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Examples of antagonist in a Sentence
They are interested in character first, and in Don, a foul-mouthed psychopath with a hair-trigger temper and buried longings for Gal's wife, they have created a truly scary antagonist.
— David Ansen, Newsweek, 18 June 2001
In the 1970s researchers discovered that the actions of estrogen and other hormones can be blocked chemically by drugs called hormone antagonists …
— David Plotkin, Atlantic, June 1996
If the new comptroller is a true antagonist of the seamy bond market practices he decried in the campaign, why has he installed as his first deputy the public finance director from the Dinkins administration who was Holtzman's accomplice in each of those deals.
— Wayne Barrett, Village Voice, March 1994
As in that film, Kopple not only draws an intimate portrait of the protagonists and antagonists in the strike, but also deftly locates the workers' struggle within a broad context of economic and political forces.
— Frank Thompson, Film Comment, January/February 1991
please name the novel's hero and his antagonist
his antagonist in the boxing match
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Recent Examples on the Web
The antagonists of the film are only presented as elitists, a group often vilified on both sides of the aisle. — David Sims, The Atlantic, "How The Hunt Became a Political Rorschach Test," 13 Aug. 2019 The league unveiled monochromatic uniforms for Players Weekend, eschewing the lively colors of previous years for dull monochromatic duds that appear to channel the Imperial stormtrooper antagonists of the Star Wars franchise. — Jeremy Cluff, azcentral, "MLB Players Weekend uniforms, hats unveiled for Arizona Diamondbacks, other teams," 7 Aug. 2019 Today, for $64.95, anyone who wants to make a political prop out of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Republican Party’s newest antagonist, can buy a 5-foot-6 cardboard cutout of her at Walmart’s online store. — Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times, "Pelosi. Clinton. Obama. Now ‘the Squad’ Is the New Target for the Right.," 27 July 2019 Jessica Jones’ initial season brilliantly exploited the tension between horror tropes and superhero stories by pitting her against a terrifyingly powerful antagonist. — Noah Berlatsky, The Verge, "Since season 1, Jessica Jones has struggled to mix horror with superheroes," 18 June 2019 Ted Lieu, the congressman from California who has long been one of President Trump’s chief Twitter antagonists, got to make his case against the President in an official setting on Wednesday. — Eric Lach, The New Yorker, "Mueller’s Testimony Strongly Suggests That Trump Would Be Indicted If He Weren’t the President," 24 July 2019 Who are the protagonists and who are the antagonists in this story? — Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, "Even therapists need therapists: Lori Gottlieb on being 'less afraid to go and talk to somebody'," 23 July 2019 The antagonist in the first Conjuring movie was a witch from the 19th century who tried to sacrifice her child to Satan, hanged herself from a tree, and cursed all who inhabit her property. — Daniel Menegaz, EW.com, "All the evil spirits of the Conjuring universe, ranked," 29 June 2019 To begin with, there are multiple versions of the Ramayana—around 300 by one account (pdf)—all of which describe the primary antagonist in various shades of grey. — Harish C Menon, Quartz India, "Sri Lanka’s first ever satellite is named after the ultimate villain of Hindu mythology," 19 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'antagonist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for antagonist
antagonist
noun
English Language Learners Definition of antagonist
: a person who opposes another person
See the full definition for antagonist in the English Language Learners Dictionary
antagonist
noun
an·tag·o·nist
| \ an-ˈta-gə-nəst
\
\
Kids Definition of antagonist
: a person who is against something or someone else : opponent
antagonist
noun
an·tag·o·nist
| \ -nəst
\
\
Medical Definition of antagonist
: an agent that acts in physiological opposition
contact between a tooth and its antagonist in the opposing jaw
: as
a
: a muscle that contracts with and limits the action of an agonist with which it is paired
— called also antagonistic muscle
— compare agonist sense 1, synergist sense 2
b
: a chemical that acts within the body to reduce the physiological activity of another chemical substance (as an opiate)
especially
: one that opposes the action on the nervous system of a drug or a substance occurring naturally in the body by combining with and blocking its nervous receptor — compare agonist sense 2
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