Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One who opposes and contends against another; an adversary.
- noun The principal character in opposition to the protagonist or hero of a narrative or drama.
- noun Physiology A muscle that counteracts the action of another muscle, the agonist.
- noun A drug or chemical substance that interferes with the physiological action of another, especially by combining with and blocking its nerve receptor.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who contends with another in combat or in argument; an opponent; a competitor; an adversary.
- noun In anatomy, a muscle which acts in opposition to another: as, a flexor, which bends a part, is the antagonist of an extensor, which extends it.
- Counteracting; opposing; combating: as, antagonist forces; an antagonist muscle.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Antagonistic; opposing; counteracting.
- noun One who contends with another, especially in combat; an adversary; an opponent.
- noun (Anat.) A muscle which acts in opposition to another.
- noun (Med.) A medicine which opposes the action of another medicine or of a poison when absorbed into the blood or tissues.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
opponent orenemy . - noun One who
antagonizes or stirs. - noun biochemistry A chemical that binds to a
receptor but does not produce aphysiological response, blocking the action ofagonist chemicals. - noun The main
character or force opposing theprotagonist in aliterary work or drama.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a drug that neutralizes or counteracts the effects of another drug
- noun someone who offers opposition
- noun a muscle that relaxes while another contracts
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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About halfway through (when the main antagonist is killed) every single page was a stop-or-keep-going decision.
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But their main antagonist is the house they are building.
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About halfway through (when the main antagonist is killed) every single page was a stop-or-keep-going decision.
November 2007 2007
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Is it ever okay for the narrator to behave this way – where the antagonist is the protagonist?
Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » Voice Q&A: Evil Narrators and Guy Talk 2010
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But a novel has more depth and dimension when the antagonist is also seen as human by the reader.
Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » Creating the Care Factor 2008
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But now your antagonist is a feeble girl, who has been unfortunate from her very birth; to destroy her would be an act of baseness to which you never yet descended.
The Hidden Hand 1888
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A good antagonist is exactly that, an equal opponent for the hero in strength, cleverness, and characterization.
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A good antagonist is exactly that, an equal opponent for the hero in strength, cleverness, and characterization.
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The major antagonist is Octavius Caesar, one of Antony's fellow triumvirs and the future first emperor of Rome.
Capsule Summaries of the Great Books of the Western World Jonathan Aquino 2009
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Driving the plot is the story line of the main antagonist, "Big" Jim Rennie.
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