antagonize

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The dominant sense now is 'to evoke hostility or opposition or enmity in':

Not wishing to antagonise the Colonel or his Officers, I suggested a compromise—B. Millim, 1991.

Its earlier meaning 'to contend with, oppose' is not recorded in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1995), although its technical meaning '(of one force etc.) to counteract or tend to neutralize (another)' is recorded. When the letter A of the Old English (up to 1150)D was being written, the current meaning was new, and it gave only a single quotation of 1882. The technical meaning is still used, although it is hardly familiar:

Our first object must be to antagonize the poison and at the same time uphold his powers—J. G. Farrell, 1973.

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v

Definition: cause problem; oppose
Antonyms: agree, aid, help

IN BRIEF: To provoke or oppose.

You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time. — J.S. Knox

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or antagonise

to act in opposition to; to counteract.
— antagonized or antagonised adj.

Previous:	antagonist, antagonism, ant+
Next:	antanamide, ante+, antegrade

For a list of words related to antagonize, see:

• Violent Actions - antagonize: provoke; act in hostile manner

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - modarbejde, modvirke

Nederlands (Dutch)
vijandig/kwaad maken, neutraliseren

Français (French)
v. tr. - contrarier, éveiller l'hostilité de

Deutsch (German)
v. - zum Feind machen, reizen, entgegenwirken

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - ανταγωνίζομαι, αντιτίθεμαι, πάω κόντρα

Italiano (Italian)
antagonizzare, inimicarsi

Português (Portuguese)
v. - hostilizar, antagonizar

Русский (Russian)
вызывать вражду, противодействие

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - enemistar, provocar antagonismo, contrariar

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - reta, stöta bort

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
使对抗, 对...起反作用, 使敌对, 中和

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 使對抗, 對...起反作用, 使敵對, 中和

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 을 적으로 돌리다, 을 중화하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 中和する, 対抗する, 敵にまわす, 敵対行動をとる, 敵をつくる, 敵意を抱かせる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يخاصم, يعادي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮עורר איבה/התנגדות, פעל נגד, נטה לנטרל‬

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