Other forms: antagonists
An antagonist is the character who opposes the main one. The main antagonist, hero and antagonist, a compelling antagonist.
It is the technical term where villain is the everyday one, and the difference matters: an antagonist opposes the protagonist without necessarily being evil, which is what makes the better ones interesting. In pharmacology, an antagonist is a drug that blocks a receptor, against an agonist that activates it. In anatomy, antagonist muscles pull against each other.
1nounantagonistThe character who opposes the main one.
“In the novel, the antagonist is a cruel stepmother who plots against the hero.”
2noundrugA drug that blocks a receptor.
“The doctor gave an antagonist that blocked the effects of the overdose.”
antagonist is an opponent.
Greek antagonistes is anti, against, plus agonistes, a combatant, from agon, a contest. Agony and protagonist come from the same contest.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂eǵ-
Ancient Greek
ἀνταγωνιστής — opponent
Latin
antagonista
English, today
antagonist
Built from
From Latin antagonista, from Ancient Greek ἀνταγωνιστής (“opponent”) (ἀντί (“against”) + ἀγωνιστής (“a combatant, pleader, actor”)), from ἀνταγωνίζομαι (“to antagonize”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
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