adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Contending or acting against.

   "They were distinct, adverse, even antagonistic."

2. 2
   Relating to an antagonist.

Adjective

1. 1
   incapable of harmonious association wordnet
2. 2
   used especially of drugs or muscles that counteract or neutralize each other's effect wordnet
3. 3
   arousing animosity or hostility wordnet
4. 4
   characterized by antagonism or antipathy wordnet
5. 5
   indicating opposition or resistance wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

counteractiveincompatiblenegativeacridadversaryadversative

Antonyms

All antonyms

personableconciliatorysynergistic

Example

More examples

"The two countries are antagonistic to each other."

Etymology

From antagonist + -ic.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.