antagonize
Americanverb (used with object)
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antagonizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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antagonized,
past participle, past
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antagonizing
present participle
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to make hostile or unfriendly; make an enemy or antagonist of.
His speech antagonized many voters.
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to act in opposition to; oppose.
verb (used without object)
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antagonizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
antagonized,
past participle, past
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antagonizing
present participle
verb
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to make hostile; annoy or irritate
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to act in opposition to or counteract
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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antagonizationnoun
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reantagonizeverb (used with object)
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antagonizableadjective
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unantagonizableadjective
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unantagonizedadjective
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unantagonizingadjective
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unantagonizinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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antagonizesimple
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antagonizessimple
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have antagonizedperfect
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has antagonizedperfect
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am antagonizingprogressive
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are antagonizingprogressive
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is antagonizingprogressive
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have been antagonizingperfect progressive
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has been antagonizingperfect progressive
Past
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antagonizedsimple
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had antagonizedperfect
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was antagonizingprogressive
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were antagonizingprogressive
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had been antagonizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of antagonize
First recorded in 1625–35, antagonize is from the Greek word antagōnízesthai to contend against, dispute with. See ant-, agonize
Explanation
To antagonize is to provoke someone to react angrily. If your mother tells you to stop antagonizing your brother, she's asking you to stop making him mad. Antagonize shares the same Greek roots with the word agony, so think about how much agony you cause your siblings when you tease and goad them into getting angry. Bugs Bunny is known to antagonize Elmer Fudd, who hunts but never does catch that wabbit. Actually Bugs antagonizes every cartoon character he comes into contact with! In English class, you'll often be asked to name the antagonist of a story or novel, the character who provokes the main character to act.
Vocabulary lists containing antagonize
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 1
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 7
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ACT Vocabulary List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
After consulting with his advisers, the Saudi crown prince told Trump that the effort was going to antagonize Iran and that it should be reconsidered, according to people familiar with the conversations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Shannon and Hannah, as different as two people could be, form a connection that can’t help but antagonize jealous Maxine, whom Shannon cheekily calls the “insatiable widow.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
Of course, any American has the right to criticize judges but defendants usually don't do it because generally it's a bad idea to unnecessarily antagonize someone who has such power over your life.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2025
There is more willingness to embrace the youth vote, rather than antagonize it, as far as campaign strategy goes.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2024
Gaston, her husband, took care not to antagonize her, although since that fatal noon when he got off the train he realized that his wife's determination had been provoked by a nostalgic mirage.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
“He antagonizes me on Twitter,” he said to a bystander, in an attempt to pass me off a second time.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2024
However, naltrexone, in both short- and long-acting forms, has the opposite pharmacology: it antagonizes mu receptors, occupying them without activating them.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 13, 2023
Doug antagonizes his commander, avoids his station chores and occasionally does his job of monitoring the cosmos around him for any sign of intelligent life.
From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2020
But this Kurdish-centric strategy antagonizes both Turkey and the official Sunni-led opposition.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2016
Nothing worries and antagonizes a female bear more than to have people between her and her brood.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Some also contend the deal has unnecessarily antagonized China, Australia’s main trading partner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia Law School, said Costello "greatly antagonized" Merchan.
From Salon ● May 21, 2024
Yet this month, it antagonized someone much more powerful, and is already retreating just a touch.
From Slate ● May 21, 2024
Instead, he says, the experiment merely shows that, when antagonized the snakes are likely to put up a more spirited defense.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 3, 2024
“They also debased their currency, undercut the universality of the iron law, and antagonized the Adem.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
And, two, how did the Ottawa captain feel about the White House posting an A.I.-generated video on its TikTok account that purported to show Tkachuk antagonizing the country where he works?
From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2026
She needs to maintain her popular tough stance on China without overly antagonizing Japan’s No. 2 customer for exports.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
Zohran Mamdani, who just swept to victory in the New York City mayoral race, already faces his next big challenge: making the right hires without alienating loyalists or further antagonizing skeptics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
On the other, you have Baier trying to show he's tough by antagonizing and talking over her.
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2024
Terryl felt like her mother blamed her for antagonizing Danny, and making things worse.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
