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Definition
someone who offers opposition or is hostileSpecialized Definitions of antagonist:
- literature or storytelling: the most important character who opposes the main character or protagonist
- physiology: a muscle that relaxes when another muscle contracts
- chemistry and biology: a substance that interferes with the effect of another substance
- In the movie, Star Wars, Darth Vader is the antagonist to Luke Skywalker.
antagonist = enemy
- In the book, Harry Potter, Voldemort is Harry's antagonist.
- Franklin regarded nature as an antagonist that would inevitably submit to force, good breeding, and Victorian discipline.Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild
- So their self-denial, their purposefulness, their suspicion of all vain pursuits, their hard-handed justice were altogether perfect instruments for the conquest of this space so antagonistic to man.Arthur Miller -- The Crucible
- He who wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.Edmund Burke
- But the blows of the antagonist began to grow more weak.Crane, Stephen -- The Red Badge of Courage
- In such case he played the Game, and the goal of the Game was to down an antagonist and keep that antagonist down for a space of ten seconds.London, Jack -- The Game
- I was convinced that man's strongest antagonist is the cold.Cather, Willa -- My Antonia
- On the ground, children from Devil's Row closed in on their antagonist.Crane, Stephen -- Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
- Presently, after moving, he leaned back and gazed with a curious abstraction at his antagonist.Maugham, W. Somerset -- Moon and Sixpence
- ...he offered himself as his antagonist at backgammon.Austen, Jane -- Pride and Prejudice
- when bending the elbow the triceps are the antagonist
- The roads confound him; they've knotted up, dark, antagonistic; he pits himself against them, valiant, a man doing battle for love.Gish Jen -- Typical American
- A few were antagonistic and openly so; like Ammu they saw their share of the food shrinking with each additional mouth.Kamala Markandaya -- Nectar in a Sieve
- Because it made Colonel Julyan antagonistic, it put him on our side.Daphne du Maurier -- Rebecca
- Ruth liked the antagonistic little dogs, who barked ardently as she passed.Alice Sebold -- The Lovely Bones
- You must believe me when I say not all among the Circle are so antagonistic as Thomas.Ted Dekker -- White: The Great Pursuit
- He shrugged, openly antagonistic now, provoking her purposely, she suspected.Stephen King -- Cujo
- Yet they didn't seem overly antagonistic, despite the hour.Chris Kyle -- American Sniper
- 'You're antagonistic to the idea of being robbed, exploited, degraded, humiliated or deceived.Joseph Heller -- Catch-22
antagonist = enemy
antagonist = someone who offers opposition
antagonistic = hostile