antagonize

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++an·tag·o·nize (also antagonise British English) /ænˈtæɡənaɪz/ verb [transitive] ANNOYto annoy someone very much by doing something that they do not like 使生气，引起…对抗[敌对] Do not antagonize your customers. 不要惹恼顾客。→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

antagonize• I cravenly agreed, simply in order not to antagonize and perhaps lose him.• The White House does not want to antagonize Beijing.• The slogans antagonized his customers and often got him into ideological hot water.• It was done to antagonize, not to amuse.• Matt wasn't the sort of man to antagonize people.• You don't want to antagonize rich and powerful Emissaries, especially not on their own ship in deep space.• The police department antagonizes the black community here on an almost regular basis.• This is effective not because it lowers serum potassium concentration but because it directly antagonizes the membrane depolarizing effect of hyperkalemia.• And Victor Amadeus could not afford to antagonize them too deeply, for fear of their power as a class.Origin antagonize (1600-1700) Greek antagonizesthai, from anti- ( → ANTI-) + agonizesthai “to fight” (from agon; → AGONY)