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Definition
hostility, opposition, or tension between opposing forces or ideasMore rarely, antagonism can refer to the relation between opposing principles, forces, or factors. In biochemistry, it can refer specifically to one chemical's interference with another.
- There is skepticism, if not antagonism, between the two groups.
antagonism = hostility
- The essay is about the inherent antagonism of capitalism and socialism.
- I don't understand her antagonism toward me.
- Christian belief that Jesus said to give Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's, reduced the antagonism between church and state.
- Ralph sighed, sensing the rising antagonism, understanding that this was how Jack felt as soon as he ceased to lead.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- It made him the most visible and memorable person at every gathering, and cartoonists had fastened onto the theatricality of his white hair and big black mustache whenever they depicted local political antagonism.Toni Morrison -- Beloved
- Now the antagonism was audible.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- Their eyes met with antagonism, and neither flinched.Woolf, Virginia -- Night and Day
- A new man's antagonism to old methods.Conrad, Joseph -- The Secret Agent
- Differences in politics, in ethics and even in aesthetics need not arouse angry antagonism.Conrad, Joseph -- Chance
- He was conscious of the antagonism which had sprung up like a wall between them.Oppenheim, E. Phillips -- The Kingdom of the Blind
- There is a progression by antagonism of two opposite aspects of philosophy.Plato -- Meno
- But sharp differentiation also implies antagonism in some form or other—hence Nietzsche's fears for modern men.anonymous review of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche -- http://nietzsche.thefreelibrary.com/Thus-Spake-Zarathustra/83-1-9 (retrieved 01/01/00)
- He saw only the antagonism between the concrete, flesh-and-blood Genevieve and the great, abstract, living Game.London, Jack -- The Game
- Hitherto, every form of society has been based, as we have already seen, on the antagonism of oppressing and oppressed classes.Marx, Karl & Engles, Frederick -- The Communist Manifesto
- He had the instincts of a bully, and I a deep-seated antagonism toward bullies.Louis L'Amour -- The Broken Gun
- Not many more, but enough to seed antagonism between the two groups.Wes Moore -- The Other Wes Moore
- Their antagonism must have been expressed in their glances; I know that Brown hated Jim at first sight.Joseph Conrad -- Lord Jim
- She did not want strife, she blamed him for wanting to quarrel, but unconsciously put herself into an attitude of antagonism.Leo Tolstoy -- Anna Karenina
- He had expected to encounter antagonism, even confrontation, and instead was being offered sly, misguided collusion.Arundhati Roy -- The God of Small Things
antagonism = tension (between opposing ideas)
antagonism = hostility
antagonism = tension (between opposing forces)
antagonism = hostility
antagonism = hostility
antagonism = hostility or opposition