Question

As used in line 33487, “antagonize” most nearly means _______.
a) Dishearten
b) Embitter
c) Humiliate
d) Inhibit

Answer 1

Hint: The dictionary meaning of the word ‘antagonize' is ‘to cause someone to become hostile'. For example, The aim was to antagonize to become hostile.

Complete answer:
 The word ‘antagonize' is a verb which means to make someone hostile or unfriendly; make the enemy or antagonist. For example, His speech antagonized mane voters. Here, we have to find out the word which is closest in meaning to the given word ‘antagonize'.
Now, let us examine all the given options to find out the correct answer :
Option ‘a’ is Dishearten. It is a verb which means to cause someone to lose determination or confidence. For example The farmer was disheartened by the damage of his crops.
Option ‘b’ is Embitter. It is a verb which means to make (someone) feel bitter or resentful. For example, He died an embittered man.
Option ‘c’ is Humiliate. It is a verb which means to make someone feel ashamed and foolish by injuring their dignity and pride. For example, You'll humiliate me in front of the whole school.
Option ‘d’ is Inhibit. It means to restrain, hinder, arrest, or check (an action, impulse) to prohibit, forbid.
As we have analyzed all the given options, we can easily figure out the correct answer. Here, the word nearest in meaning to the word ‘antagonize’ is ‘embitter’. Hence, option ‘b’ is the correct option.

Note:
Don’t confuse between ‘dishearten' and ‘embitter’. Someone who is disheartened loses interest, whereas, someone who has embittered forms an enemy, which is closest in meaning to the given word.