Antagonistic
Hostile; showing opposition or acting against others
adjectiveAntagonistic
Hostile; showing opposition or acting against others
adjectiveImagine This
Imagine a group of ants that are are agonized because they are driven away from their home by army ants, and they group together to protest (oppose) against the army ants.
Sounds Like
an-TAG-uh-NIS-tik
Looks Like
Looks like 'ant' + 'agon' + 'istic'; visually reminiscent of 'antagonist'.
Remember This
The root idea is opposition or conflict. Antagonistic shares its root with antagonist (a person who opposes the protagonist) and relates to hostile, opposing relationships in literature and psychology.
Other Forms
Connect With
antagonist, antagonize, hostility, opposition, adversarial, inimical
Note
Do not confuse antagonistic with antagonize (verb). Antagonistic is the descriptive form; antagonize means to provoke or irritate. Both derive from the same anti- 'against' concept.