Word.ws English Dictionary

agonism

/ˈæɡ.əˌnɪz.əm/

agonism noun: competitive struggle (especially political).

Noun

agonism (plural agonisms)

  1. Competitive struggle (especially political).
    • The internal competition between tendencies or natures that Machiavelli recognizes in individuals and groups and that Nietzsche sees as multiple drives is a form of “agonism.” Agonism is the idea that conflict and struggle are the natural basis of life and that this is replicated in social...2007, Diego A. Von Vacano, The Art of Power: Machiavelli, Nietzsche, and the Making of Aesthetic Political Theory, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 82
    • This is where the great replacement comes in. As mendacious and deranged as it is, it provides a structural explanation for various aspects of the polycrisis, and comes with in-built agonism for politicians to exploit.2023 August 23, Oliver Haynes, “European conservative parties are out of ideas, but absorbing the far right isn’t the answer”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
  2. The relationship between an agonist and a receptor.

agonism meaning in Bengali

agonism in Bengali

সামাজিক, রাজনৈতিক সংগ্রামের তত্ত্ব

Forms of agonism

pluralagonisms

Origin of agonism

From agon + -ism, from Latin agōn, from Ancient Greek ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”).

Words formed from agonism

Questions about agonism

What does agonism mean?
Agonism means competitive struggle (especially political).
What is agonism in Bengali?
Agonism in Bengali is সামাজিক, রাজনৈতিক সংগ্রামের তত্ত্ব. See Agonism meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is agonism?
Agonism is a noun.
How do you pronounce agonism?
Agonism is pronounced /ˈæɡ.əˌnɪz.əm/.
What is the plural of agonism?
The plural of agonism is agonisms.

Words near agonism in the dictionary

  1. agonisedly
  2. agonises
  3. agonising
  4. agonisingly
  5. agonisings
  6. agonism
  7. agonisms
  8. agonist
  9. agonistarch
  10. agonistarchs
  11. agonistes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: agonism (page history and authors); agonism (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “agonism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/agonism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.