The new tax policy threatened to antagonize small business owners, who had already expressed strong opposition to increased regulation.
新税收政策可能会激怒小企业主，他们此前已对加强监管表达了强烈反对。
Which choice best defines “antagonize”?
D — To provoke hostility in.. “antagonize” means To provoke hostility in..
Which word means “To provoke hostility in.”?
C — antagonize. “antagonize” means To provoke hostility in..
antagonize — To provoke hostility in.. In Chinese: 使敌对；激怒；对抗.
antagonize is pronounced //ænˈtæɡənaɪz//.
The new tax policy threatened to antagonize small business owners, who had already expressed strong opposition to increased regulation. (新税收政策可能会激怒小企业主，他们此前已对加强监管表达了强烈反对。)
alienate, provoke, estrange — all close in meaning to antagonize (To provoke hostility in.).
conciliate, appease — each the opposite of antagonize (To provoke hostility in.).
Yes. antagonize is on the SAT Prep Difficult list — the higher-register words that decide the hard questions. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.
ant-(反) + agon(斗) → 与人为敌 → 激怒。