Agon
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work. countable
"It was not ecological pressure or shortages of protein, as anthropologist Marvin Harris has claimed; institutionalized violence, as opposed to the stylized agons of hunters over grievances, was the shadow side of the Neolithic Revolution."
- 2 a festivity in ancient Greece at which competitors contended for prizes wordnet
- 3 An intellectual conflict or apparent competition of ideas. countable
"Freud's originality stemmed from his aggression and ambition in his agon with biology."
- 4 A contest in ancient Greece, as in athletics or music, in which prizes were awarded. countable
- 5 A two-player board game played on a hexagonally-tiled board, popular in Victorian times. uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"It was not ecological pressure or shortages of protein, as anthropologist Marvin Harris has claimed; institutionalized violence, as opposed to the stylized agons of hunters over grievances, was the shadow side of the Neolithic Revolution."
Etymology
From Latin agōn, from Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”).
Related phrases
More for "agon"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.