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- Robert Browning

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Academic Focus: Metric analysis / Historical dialect interpretation. Engaging with diverse historical English builds phonetic agility, linguistic empathy, and reading stamina valued in selective entry exams.

Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,

May gaze through these faint smokes curling whitely,

As thou pliest thy trade in this devil's-smithy--

Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?

...

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verb

To have each of a team's batting line-up positions complete an at-bat in the same half-inning.

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Dictionary Entry

agonistic

Part of SpeechadjectivePronunciation/aɡəˈnɪstɪk/Word FrequencyUncommon (2.22)Curriculum FrequencyLess common (1)

Of or relating to contests that were originally participated in by the Ancient Greeks; athletic

In a Sentence

“The ancient Olympic Games featured many agonistic events, testing athletes' strength and endurance.”

Published Usage Examples

“In an antagonistic what in biology is called agonistic encounter with another animal, a dog wants to appear to be the bigger, more powerful creature—so he makes a big-dog sound.”

Year 11 Word List

This entry also appears in ReadingWillow Year 11 word lists, so students can move between the dictionary and year-level study sets.

Origin

From Greek 'agonistes' (competitor), from 'agon' (contest).

Common Phrases

behavior agonisticbehaviour agonisticinteractions agonisticencounters agonisticactivity agonisticbehaviors agonistic

Synonyms

strainedcombativeaffectedunnaturalcompetitivecompetitory

Antonyms

cooperativepeacefulharmonious

Related Words

agonisticalagonist

Poetry examples for “agonistic”

Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.

Poetry examples are still being gathered for this entry. They will appear here once matching poems are available in the library.