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:
Yet states like Mongolia and Tajikistan can little afford to antagonize their giant Russian neighbor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Which prompts the question: Why would companies that in theory couldn’t afford to antagonize their customers take this tack anyway?
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 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
“When we are fighting for our survival, we can’t afford to antagonize either Biden or Trump,” Mr. Merezhko said.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
They conducted their duties humbly and reticently, with a minimum of fuss, and went to great lengths not to antagonize anyone.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Instead the city is pursuing a policy that further antagonizes landlords and sends tenants the message that they might be able to get away with not paying rent if they fight hard enough.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 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
It doesn’t stop the smoldering resentment that I feel deep down when she antagonizes me.
From Slate ● Aug. 30, 2019
The varying currency of these attributes is what draws the two women together, and also what antagonizes them, particularly once they come upon Faoud, a handsome young refugee, seemingly swept up onto the shore.
From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2017
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
When a person goes to the store and finds almost everything locked up behind plastic because of shoplifting, they may feel antagonized and triggered.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2025
Neither side was eager to prolong a battle that antagonized customers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2024
Yet this month, it antagonized someone much more powerful, and is already retreating just a touch.
From Slate ● May 21, 2024
Fyntan and Celine must have been alarmed by our misguided outpost in Kilanga, where we slept in their same house, antagonized their former friends, even turned their parrot out to nature’s maw.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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
In it, more realities of the killing are clarified: Good wasn’t antagonizing the agent, and she didn’t turn her wheels to try to hit him, but instead to drive away slowly.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026
President Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, two singular forces in U.S. politics who have spent months antagonizing one another, set aside their differences—for now—following a meeting at the White House.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2025
On the other, you have Baier trying to show he's tough by antagonizing and talking over her.
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2024
I am grateful when he pulls me toward a low table with pillows strewn haphazardly around it, but I can’t help giving Nicasia a small, antagonizing wave as I go.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
