Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A strong feeling of aversion or repugnance. See Synonyms at enmity.
- n. An object of aversion.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Natural aversion; instinctive contrariety or opposition in feeling; an aversion felt at the presence or thought of a particular object; distaste; disgust; repugnance.
- n. A contrariety in the properties or affections of matter, as of oil and water.
- n. An object of natural aversion or settled dislike.
- n. Synonyms Hatred, Dislike, Antipathy, Disgust, Aversion, Reluctance, Repugnance. Hatred is the deepest and most permanent of these feelings; it is rarely used except of persons.
- n. Dislike is the most general word, and depends upon the connection for its strength; it is opposed to liking or fondness.
- n. Antipathy expresses most of constitutional feeling and least of volition: the turkey-cock has an antipathy to the color red; many people have an intense antipathy to snakes, rats, toads. In figurative use, antipathy is a dislike that seems constitutional toward persons, things, conduct, etc.; hence it involves a dislike for which sometimes no good reason can be given.
- n. Antipathy is opposed primarily to sympathy, but often to mere liking.
- n. Disgust is the loathing, first of physical taste, then of esthetic taste, then of spiritual taste or moral feeling.
- n. Aversion is a fixed disposition to avoid something which displeases, disturbs, or annoys: as, quiet people have an aversion to noise. It is a dislike, settled and generally strong.
- n. Reluctance and repugnance by derivation imply a natural struggle, as of hesitation or recoil; with reluctance it is simply the will holding back in dislike of some proposed act, while with repugnance it is a greater resistance or one accompanied with greater feeling, and generally in regard to an act, course, idea, etc., rarely to persons or things. See animosity.
Wiktionary
- n. Contrariety or opposition in feeling; settled aversion or dislike; repugnance; distaste.
- n. Natural contrariety; incompatibility; repugnancy of qualities; as, oil and water have antipathy.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Contrariety or opposition in feeling; settled aversion or dislike; repugnance; distaste.
- n. Natural contrariety; incompatibility; repugnancy of qualities.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the object of a feeling of intense aversion; something to be avoided
- n. a feeling of intense dislike
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek ἀντιπάθεια (antipatheia), noun of state from ἀντιπαθής (antipathes, "opposed in feeling"), from ἀντί (anti-, "against") + root of πάθος (pathos, "feeling"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin antipathīa, from Greek antipatheia, from antipathēs, of opposite feelings : anti-, anti- + pathos, feeling; see pathos. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“He drew back a little, as he spoke; it might be simple disgust; it might be fear; it might be what we call antipathy, which is different from either, and which will sometimes show itself in paleness, and even faintness, produced by objects perfectly harmless and not in themselves offensive to any sense.”
“But as with xenophobia against immigrants in Western Europe, how much of this antipathy is attributable to deliberate misinformation, and poor education, and media which loves a sensation?”
“The latter is far different from what we commonly term antipathy or sympathy.”
The Book Of THoTH, Popular Articles from The Archive Category - UFO Section 3
“Or, my hunch, maybe the center, some of whose members have expressed a certain antipathy or standoffishness toward the tea party, simply doesn't care that it feels a certain antipathy or standoffishness.”
“Adopting a posture of aggressive nationalism will only invite antipathy from the international community and harm China's international image.”
The Huffington Post: Matt Browner Hamlin: Liu Xiaobo's Peace Prize: A Victory for Tibet
“Actually, a research study conducted at the University of Georgia back in 1996 suggests that Freud may have been onto something when he proposed his theory of reaction formation (which states that violent antipathy is sometimes a defense against feelings of desire or attraction which are perceived as forbidden and/or terrifying and therefore pushed out of conscious awareness).”
Think Progress » Puppet cleavage too hot for the religious right in Colorado Springs.
“Hardcore modernism has always communicated to me just fine, and I can't think of anything in my bland middle-class upbringing that would make me any more predisposed to like it than anyone else, except for the fact that I first heard it before I knew what it was — which has always fostered the suspicion that most of "the public's" alleged antipathy is based more on reputation than experience.”
“Also I don't remember the word antipathy in any direct quotes, but I could be wrong ...”
“Chait would have been well served to make that post-modern point clear, but clearly the antipathy is so high that he would have been more well-served to just publish the piece anonymously.”
“I notice that my nationalistic hackles are rising and that the antipathy from the Celts is really beginning to grate on me.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘antipathy’.
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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501
Classic
abhor, mirth, obtuse, iota, vex, irk, teem, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane and 401 more...
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From reading
Collected from reading
venerate, reprobate, reticent, adoration, ethereal, ephemeral, equivocal, contumacious, heinous, solicitous, agnostic, aberration and 335 more...
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501
Classic
irk, teem, blight, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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SAT words
tergiversate, cymotrichous, vigilance, wince, consternation, cower, neutralize, euphony, cacophony, misanthrope, bibliophile, kleptomania and 81 more...
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GRE Passage Words
admonish, ephemeral, ambivalence, antipathy, antithetical, countenance, deride, eclectic, enigma, ethos, expediency, impinge and 15 more...
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to memorize
words i need to memorize
aberrant, abscond, advocate, aggrandize, amalgamate, ambiguous, ambrosial, anomalous, antediluvian, antipathy, arbitrate, assuage and 163 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
thunderfuck, incredible, merp, sara, flopparoo, smother, fugly, buer, plum, canny, nefelibata, cuntbucket and 1972 more... -
GRE 3500
abase, abash, abate, aberrant, abeyance, abjure, ablution, abut, accede, accentuate, acerbity, acetic and 133 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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SAT vocab
abash, abdicate, abate, aberration, abhor, abject, abnegate, abortive, absolve, abstruse, accolade, accost and 175 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for antipathy.

kingparton The antipathy to "style" is always an antipathy to a given style. There are no style-less works of art, only works of art belonging to different, more or less complex stylistic traditions and conventions.
Susan Sontag, "Against Interpretation" Nov 18, 2011
she In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) "—but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?"
The word Alice was looking for was antipode. Jul 18, 2008
brtom "Ye matron censors of this childish age,
Whose peering eye and wrinkled front declare
A fixed antipathy to young and fair ..."
Sheridan, School for Scandal Jan 2, 2008