antagonistic (adj.)
"acting in opposition," 1630s, from antagonist + -ic. Related: Antagonistical (1620s); antagonistically.
Entries linking to antagonistic
Middle English -ik, -ick, word-forming element making adjectives, "having to do with, having the nature of, being, made of, caused by, similar to," from French -ique and directly from Latin -icus or from cognate Greek -ikos "in the manner of; pertaining to." From PIE adjective suffix *-(i)ko, which also yielded Slavic -isku, adjectival suffix indicating origin, the source of the -sky (Russian -skii) in many surnames. In chemistry, indicating a higher valence than names in -ous (first in benzoic, 1791).
In Middle English and after often spelled -ick, -ike, -ique. Variant forms in -ick (critick, ethick) were common in early Modern English and survived in English dictionaries into early 19c. This spelling was supported by Johnson but opposed by Webster, who prevailed.
Share antagonistic
slaves antagonistic to their masters
his antagonistic brusqueness
Europe was antagonistic to the Unites States
Dictionary entries near antagonistic
antacid
Antaeus
antagonise
antagonism
antagonist
antagonistic
antagonize
antalgic
antanaclasis
antaphrodisiac
antarchism