as in hostile
marked by opposition or ill will
countries that have been antagonistic towards each other for centuries
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Recent Examples of antagonistic
This has been, in no small part, because Russia’s writers have often played an antagonistic role in the efforts of Russia’s rulers to shape a particular image of the country, including Alexander Pushkin and Leo Tolstoy—arguably Russia’s two most iconic literary geniuses.
—
Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
In one of the more audacious big screen headlining roles, Michael Fassbender, Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and Taylor Russell play antagonistic aliens in South Korean director Na Hong-Jin’s sci-fi monster movie, Hope.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 18 May 2026
The limits of sanctions on Iran Since 1979, relations between Washington and Iran have been antagonistic.
—Charmaine N. Willis, The Conversation, 30 Apr. 2026
Their announcement was a departure from what has been the more typically adversarial relationship between Mamdani and Menin, who stand on different ends of the Democratic Party spectrum and have developed mostly antagonistic positions in the city’s budget process.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 28 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for antagonistic
Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
In one of the more audacious big screen headlining roles, Michael Fassbender, Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and Taylor Russell play antagonistic aliens in South Korean director Na Hong-Jin’s sci-fi monster movie, Hope.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 18 May 2026
The limits of sanctions on Iran Since 1979, relations between Washington and Iran have been antagonistic.
—Charmaine N. Willis, The Conversation, 30 Apr. 2026
Their announcement was a departure from what has been the more typically adversarial relationship between Mamdani and Menin, who stand on different ends of the Democratic Party spectrum and have developed mostly antagonistic positions in the city’s budget process.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 28 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for antagonistic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for antagonistic
Adjective
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Weiss and Tom Cibrowski were openly hostile from the start.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
3 June 2026
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The Space Force budget has grown significantly in recent years, and one of its mandates is countering spying and potentially hostile acts by Russian and Chinese spacecraft in these orbits.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
2 June 2026
Adjective
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Republicans can be convinced that negative stories about their candidates are media put-ons, and Democrats are a little envious that their voters haven’t adopted the same attitude of ignore, fight, move on, maybe sue.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
3 June 2026
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The system features an open architecture that pairs a pure lithium metal negative electrode directly with ambient oxygen drawn from the surrounding atmosphere to act as the positive electrode reactant.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
3 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Antagonistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/antagonistic. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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