Antipathetical

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Showing a strong natural opposition or aversion to something, characterized by fundamental incompatibility or conflicting principles
2. Marked by deep-seated opposition or mutual incompatibility that reflects fundamentally clashing natures or principles
3. Expressing or demonstrating an inherent repugnance and resistance arising from conflicting characteristics or opposing dispositions

Etymology: "Antipathetical" is "antipathetic" with an extra "-al" tacked onto the end, a pattern English has long used to make adjectives from adjectives. The root "antipathetic" is itself built from Greek roots: "anti-" meaning "against" and "pathos," meaning "feeling" or "suffering," so the core idea is feeling set against something. The Latin form "antipatheticus" carried that sense over from Greek into learned writing. Because the word is an adjective formed by adding "-al" to a word that already ends in "-ic," it reads as a slightly heavier, more formal variant of "antipathetic." It describes a natural, almost instinctive opposition, the kind that makes two things or two people incompatible at a basic level, rather than a reasoned disagreement.

Synonyms: hostile, contradictory

Antonyms: compatible, agreeable