ANTAGONIST

Pronunciation (US):

• ANTAGONIST (noun)
  The noun ANTAGONIST has 3 senses:

1. someone who offers opposition
2. a muscle that relaxes while another contracts
3. a drug that neutralizes or counteracts the effects of another drug

  Familiarity information: ANTAGONIST used as a noun is uncommon.

• ANTAGONIST (noun)

Meaning:

Someone who offers opposition

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

adversary; antagonist; opposer; opponent; resister

Hypernyms ("antagonist" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "antagonist"):

dueler; duelist; dueller; duellist (a person who fights duels)

enemy; foe; foeman; opposition (an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force))

Luddite (any opponent of technological progress)

withstander (an opponent who resists with force or resolution)

Instance hyponyms:

Antichrist ((Christianity) the adversary of Christ (or Christianity) mentioned in the New Testament; the Antichrist will rule the world until overthrown by the Second Coming of Christ)

Antonym:

agonist (someone involved in a contest or battle (as in an agon))

Meaning:

A muscle that relaxes while another contracts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Context example:

when bending the elbow the triceps are the antagonist

Hypernyms ("antagonist" is a kind of...):

antagonistic muscle ((physiology) a muscle that opposes the action of another)

Meaning:

A drug that neutralizes or counteracts the effects of another drug

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("antagonist" is a kind of...):

drug (a substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "antagonist"):

estrogen antagonist; tamoxifen (an antagonist for estrogen that is used in the treatment of breast cancer)

narcotic antagonist (an antagonist used to counteract the effects of narcotics (especially to counteract the depression of respiration))

Antonym:

synergist (a drug that augments the activity of another drug)