Advanced and Proficiency Vocabulary for Exams(e.g.GRE, Banks, Civil Services, SAT / LSAT). For IELTS/TOEFL, and everyday spoken vocabulary, go to our Spoken Vocabulary Database.
When you ‘antagonize’ somebody, you provoke them to be hostile and react angrily towards you. This can be done unintentionally as a result of a real or perceived character flaw, or deliberately to unsettle somebody or make them lose their composure.
Exam DB | Spoken DB | Other | |
---|---|---|---|
Synonyms | exasperate | aggravate | irritate, |
Antonyms | mollifypacify | uplift |
Tom is not capable of dealing with customer complaints in a professional manner. All he does is antagonize them further with his poor attitude.
Our boss shoots down every suggestion that the team makes to her in a dismissive, antagonistic way, then wonders why staff morale is so low.
The setting up of peace talks between the two factions after years of mutual antagonism was a major breakthrough.