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ag·o·nis·tic (ăg′ə-nĭstĭk) also ag·o·nis·ti·cal (-tĭ-kəl)
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adj.
1. Of or relating to an agonist.
2. Striving to overcome in argument; combative: "In the far more consequential world of business and finance ... pretensions of youthful vigor and agonistic prowess reign supreme" (Theodore Roszack).
3. Of or relating to contests, originally those of the ancient Greeks.
4. Of or relating to behavior associated with conflict between one animal and another.
ag′o·nisti·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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