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# The Good Oil Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-good-oil-word-of-the-day-350/
- Published: 2025-07-23T18:15:20.000Z
- Updated: 2025-07-23T18:15:19.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, Word of the Day

The word for today is…

antagonist (noun): 

1: one that contends with or opposes another : adversary, opponent

2: an agent of physiological antagonism: such as

a: a muscle that contracts with and limits the action of an agonist with which it is paired

b: a chemical that acts within the body to reduce the physiological activity of another chemical substance (such as an opiate), especially : one that opposes the action on the nervous system of a drug or a substance occurring naturally in the body by combining with and blocking its nervous receptor 

Source : [Merriam -Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antagonist?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : On the stage or screen, in a story or a novel, the protagonist is the main character and the antagonist is the opposing one. Pro- and ant- usually mark the good and bad characters, but not always; there may occasionally be an evil protagonist and a good antagonist. In the drama of the real world, it's especially hard to sort out which is which, so we usually speak of both parties to a conflict as antagonists. During a strike, for example, representatives of labour and management become antagonists; they often manage to antagonise each other, and the antagonism often remains after the strike is over.

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