antagonize
to make hostile or unfriendly; make an enemy or antagonist of: His speech antagonized many voters.
to act in opposition to; oppose.
Origin of antagonize
1- Also especially British, an·tag·o·nise .
Other words from antagonize
- an·tag·o·niz·a·ble, adjective
- an·tag·o·ni·za·tion, noun
- re·an·tag·o·nize, verb (used with object), re·an·tag·o·nized, re·an·tag·o·niz·ing.
- un·an·tag·o·niz·a·ble, adjective
- un·an·tag·o·nized, adjective
- un·an·tag·o·niz·ing, adjective
- un·an·tag·o·niz·ing·ly, adverb
Words Nearby antagonize
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use antagonize in a sentence
Overcoming resistanceFor some unvaccinated Americans, the FDA approval is the latest in a series of actions and appeals that have fallen flat or further antagonized them.
‘I’m still not planning to get it’: FDA approval not swaying some vaccine holdouts | Dan Diamond | August 25, 2021 | Washington PostAs I’ve written before, confronting people on social media—in Facebook posts, Twitter replies, Instagram comments—isn’t helpful and can antagonize others.
You will do your friend no favors by antagonizing the mother of her grandchild.
Miss Manners: Newspaper rule still applies, even in digital age | Judith Martin, Nicholas Martin, Jacobina Martin | May 31, 2021 | Washington PostThe film acknowledges this wrong, but never antagonizes the child.
If you want this city to prosper, you shouldn’t be antagonizing him.
Satirists occupy a perilous position—to skewer dogma and cant, and to antagonize the establishment while needing its protection.
Close attachment to autocratic regimes by the West pays short-term dividends but will antagonize generations of Muslims.
Why’s Al Qaeda So Strong? Washington Has (Literally) No idea | Bruce Riedel | November 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTGoing northward would antagonize Iraqi Sunnis, whom Washington and Baghdad are currently wooing.
There’s Only One Way to Beat ISIS: Work With Assad and Iran | Leslie H. Gelb | October 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSo far in the States, he has eschewed the roaring, pumping, and scolding so as not to antagonize his new teammates and opponents.
Masahiro Tanaka Is the Yankees' $155M Lethal Weapon and Strikeout Machine | Allen Barra | May 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDiplomatically, though, the big news is that Obama and Netanyahu will not antagonize each other.
Obama and Netanyahu Have Reached Detente in Time for Israel Visit | Eli Lake | March 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHe could not indorse the religious ideas taught in them, and he was not there that day to antagonize them.
Abraham Lincoln: Was He A Christian? | John B. RemsburgIt is not well to antagonize the priests, who hold us firmly to this law.
The Adventures of Kathlyn | Harold MacGrathWhen he was angered it was as though the offender had managed to antagonize some natural law, or force or mass.
The Long Roll | Mary JohnstonDon't antagonize him; we can't afford to fight this war on any more fronts than we are now.
Uller Uprising | Henry Beam Piper, John D. Clark and John F. CarrTo brave public opinion and antagonize the Lower House of Congress required the largest courage.
How Marcus Whitman Saved Oregon | Oliver W. Nixon
British Dictionary definitions for antagonize
antagonise
/ (ænˈtæɡəˌnaɪz) /
to make hostile; annoy or irritate
to act in opposition to or counteract
Origin of antagonize
1Derived forms of antagonize
- antagonizable or antagonisable, adjective
- antagonization or antagonisation, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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