antagonistic

Etymology

The revised OED takes it as borrowed from New Latin antagonisticus, recorded in post-classical Latin by 1617, from antagonista (“opponent”) and the suffix -icus;^[2] Etymonline and Dictionary.com take it as formed from English antagonist + -ic.^[3][4] Antagonist is from Late Latin antagonista (“opponent”), used by Jerome in the 4th century,^[2] from Ancient Greek ἀνταγωνιστής (antagōnistḗs, “opponent, rival”),^[2][3][1] from ἀνταγωνίζομαι (antagōnízomai, “to struggle against, be a rival”),^[3][1] formed from ἀντί (antí, “against”) and ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “combatant”).^[1] The adjective antagonistical is older, recorded from 1610 in the OED, from the 1620s in Etymonline.^[2][3] The OED compares agonistic.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mutually opposed, incompatible: before 1637, in B. Jonson's The Magnetick Lady.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the 1989 edition of the OED date the word to 1632,^[5][6] Etymonline to the 1630s,^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1625–35.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that antagonist was first used of opponents in battle or sport and was extended in the 1620s to any field of human activity.^[3] Antagonistic first meant "of the nature of antagonists", mutually opposed or incompatible, and only later "openly hostile" towards someone or something, now its usual sense.^[2] In physiology it has been used since 1725 of a muscle that acts against another,^[2] a sense the 1989 edition of the OED dated only from 1845.^[6]

Timeline

• before 1637 – mutually opposed, incompatible; later also actively hostile.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the 1989 edition of the OED date it to 1632.^[5][6]
• 1725 – in physiology, of a muscle acting as an antagonist.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Showing active opposition or hostility: The villagers were antagonistic to the new road.^[7][5][2]
2. Mutually opposed; working against each other; incompatible: antagonistic interests.^[7][5][2]
3. In physiology, of a muscle: acting against another muscle.^[2]

Word family

• antagonistically
• nonantagonistic

Related words

• antagonist
• antagonism
• antagonize
• agonistic
• agony

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins