antipathy means 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. It carries an Arena rating of 1667, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, antipathy ranks #1,088 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,462 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,952 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #3,414 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
antipathy is pronounced /ænˈtɪpəθi/.
Why “antipathy” is a great word
A deep, often instinctual feeling of dislike or aversion, or a natural incompatibility between things. From the Latin antipathīa and Middle French antipathie, ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀντιπάθεια (antipatheia), from anti- ("against") + pathos ("feeling, suffering"). Unlike "animosity," which seethes with active ill will forged in grievance, or "aversion," which denotes a strong desire to avoid a thing or situation, antipathy is a colder, more elemental repulsion, a mutual opposition felt in the grain. It is the involuntary recoil from a certain timbre of voice, the silent chill that falls between two people for no reason they can name, the fundamental refusal of oil to mix with water—a quiet testament to the fact that some distances are not meant to be crossed.
Etymology
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;
noun
- 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.e.g.“Oil and water have antipathy.”
- 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.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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