What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Foe vs Antagonist - What's the difference?

foe | antagonist |

As nouns the difference between foe and antagonist

is that foe is an enemy while antagonist is an opponent or enemy.

As an adjective foe

is hostile.

As an initialism FoE

is friends of the Earth.

foe

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) fo 'foe; hostile', from earlier ifo 'foe', from (etyl) 'to hate, be hostile' (compare Middle Irish oech 'enemy, fiend', Latin piget 'he is annoying', Lithuanian piktas ‘evil’, Albanian pis ‘dirty, scoundrel’).

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Hostile.
  • *, vol.1, ch.23:
    • he, I say, could passe into Affrike onely with two simple ships or small barkes, to commit himselfe in a strange and foe countrie, to engage his person, under the power of a barbarous King.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An enemy.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foe s’ glee.}}
    Synonyms
    * (enemy) adversary, enemy, opponent
    Antonyms
    * (enemy) ally, friend

    Etymology 2

    An acronym of "fifty-one ergs", coined by Gerald Brown of Stony Brook University in his work with Hans Bethe.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A unit of energy equal to 1044 joules.

    • Anagrams

    *

    antagonist

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An opponent or enemy.
  • * Milton
    • antagonist of Heaven's Almighty King
  • * Hooker
    • our antagonists in these controversies
  • One who antagonizes or stirs.
  • (biochemistry) A chemical that binds to a receptor but does not produce a physiological response, blocking the action of agonist chemicals.
  • * 2001': The calcium '''antagonists represent one of the top ten classes of prescription drugs in terms of commercial value, with worldwide sales of nearly $10 billion in 1999. — Leslie Iversen, ''Drugs: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2001, p. 41)
  • The main character or force opposing the protagonist in a literary work or drama.
  • (anatomy) A muscle that acts in opposition to another.
    • A flexor, which bends a part, is the antagonist of an extensor, which extends it.

    Antonyms

    * protagonist * agonist (biochemistry)

    Related terms

    () * agonistes * antagonise, antagonize * antagonism * receptor antagonist

    Anagrams

    *