Definition of ANTIPATHY

antipathy

Meanings

Plural: antipathies

Noun

  • a feeling of intense dislike
  • the object of a feeling of intense aversion; something to be avoided
    • "cats were his greatest antipathy"
  • Often followed by against, between, for, or to: a (deep) feeling of dislike or repugnance, normally towards a person and less often towards a thing, often without any conscious reasoning; aversion, distaste, hostility; (countable) an instance of this.
  • Natural contrariety or incompatibility between things, as a result of which they negatively affect or oppose each other; (countable) an instance of this.
  • A person or thing that one has a (deep) feeling of dislike or repugnance towards; an anathema, a bête noire, a bugbear.
  • A person or thing that has a (deep) feeling of dislike or repugnance towards another person or thing; a hater.
  • The quality of being antipathetic: not easily united by grafting.

Origin / Etymology

PIE word
*h₂énti
Borrowed from Middle French antipathie (“deep dislike; object of dislike; incompatibility between things”) (modern French antipathie (“dislike, antipathy”)), and from its etymon Latin antipathīa (“counteraction; natural aversion, antipathy”), from Ancient Greek ἀντῐπάθειᾰ (antĭpátheiă, “suffering instead”), Koine Greek ἀντῐπάθειᾰ (antĭpátheiă, “contrary affection; contrast; counteraction; opposition”), from ἀντῐπᾰθής (antĭpăthḗs, “(adjective) felt mutually; in return for suffering; (noun) remedy for suffering”) (from ἀντι- (anti-, prefix meaning ‘against’) + πᾰ́θος (pắthos, “death; disaster; misfortune; pain; suffering; strong feeling, emotion, passion, pathos”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind; a bond”) or *kʷendʰ- (“to endure; to suffer”)) + -ης (-ēs, suffix forming third-declension adjectives)) + -ειᾰ (-eiă, suffix forming feminine adjectives and nouns).

Synonyms

aversion, contrariety, disgust, distaste, enmity, hatred, ill feeling, ill will, opposition

Antonyms

sympathy

Scrabble Score: 17

antipathy is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
antipathy is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
antipathy is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 17

antipathy is a valid Words With Friends word