antagonist
/ænˈtæɡənɪst/noun
antagonist is spelled A-N-T-A-G-O-N-I-S-T: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, antagonist means “An opponent or enemy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of antagonist is antagonists.
How many letters and syllables are in antagonist?
| Letters | 10: A-N-T-A-G-O-N-I-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is antagonist?
Antagonist appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce antagonist?
- UK /ænˈtæɡənɪst/
- US /ænˈtæɡənɪst/
- US [ɛə̯nˈtæɡənɪst]
Antagonist has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-antagonist.wav, En-us-antagonist.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with antagonist?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as antagonist from its last stressed vowel (/æɡənɪst/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: stagnation.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of antagonist
- antagonists plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does antagonist mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An opponent or enemy.
- 2
One who antagonizes or stirs.
- 3
A chemical that binds to a receptor but does not produce a physiological response, blocking the action of other agonist chemicals, such as endogenous chemical messengers.
- 4
The main character or force opposing the protagonist in a literary work or drama.
- 5
A muscle that acts in opposition to another.
A flexor, which bends a part, is the antagonist of an extensor, which extends it.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate antagonist?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of antagonist: antag.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Antagonist in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense opponent:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | antagoniste |
| German | Antagonist, Widersacher, Gegner |
| Portuguese | antagonista |
| Spanish | antagonista |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does antagonist come from?
From Latin antagonista, from Ancient Greek ἀνταγωνιστής (antagōnistḗs, “opponent”) (ἀντί (antí, “against”) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”)), from ἀνταγωνίζομαι (antagōnízomai, “to antagonize”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).