Meanings
anti-1
- Against, opposed to.
anti- + racism → antiracism
2 more examples
anti- + abortion → antiabortion
In the outer reaches of the Magasphere, it would be fair to say the advent of the first pope from the US has not been greeted with unbridled enthusiasm. Take Laura Loomer, the thirtysomething influencer and conspiracy theorist, whose verdict on Leo XIV was as instant as it was theologically uninformed: “Anti-Trump, anti-Maga, pro-open Borders, and a total Marxist like Pope Francis.”
2025 May 21, Julian Coman, “Maga Catholics are on a collision course with Leo XIV. They have good reason to fear him”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 01 Jun 2025 - Counteracting, neutralizing.
anti- + freeze → antifreeze
2 more examples
anti- + aircraft → antiaircraft
anti- + bacterial → antibacterial
Synonyms: counter-
- The opposite of what is typically expected.
anti- + climax → anticlimax (“a failed or reverse climax”)
2 more examples
anti- + hero → antihero (“a protagonist who acts in an unheroic manner”)
anti- + chess → antichess (“a variant of chess where the goal is to lose all of one's pieces”)
- A rival or counterpart to.
anti- + Christ → Antichrist
1 more example
anti- + pope → antipope (“a person who claims to be the real pope”)
- particlenatural sciencesComposed of antimatter.
anti- + galaxy → antigalaxy
1 more example
anti- + electron → antielectron
- immunologyReacting with immunoglobins found in the specified animal.
anti- + horse → antihorse
1 more example
anti- + rabbit → antirabbit
anti-2
- obsoleteObsolete form of ante-.
antichamber, antiport, antiroom
2 more examples
A′ntiport.* n[oun] s[ubstantive] [Fr[ench] antiporte, Lat[in] ante and portus.] An outward gate or door. It should be written anteport.
1818, “A′ntiport”, in Samuel Johnson [author of original edition], edited by H[enry] J[ohn] Todd, A Dictionary of the English Language; […], volume I, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; […], →OCLC, signature AA, recto, column 2When Eleanor of Toledo entered her future capital in 1539, the decorations at the city gate had still been on a small scale, consisting of an antiportico, which may or may not have been embellished with painting and sculptures.
1956 December, Richard Bernheimer, “Theatrum Mundi”, in James S[loss] Ackerman, editor, The Art Bulletin, volume XXXVIII, number 4, New York, N.Y.: College Art Association of America, →ISSN, →OCLC, section III, page 237
Synonyms & antonyms
prefixCounteracting, neutralizing.
Origin
anti- · prefix
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂énti
- Ancient Greekᾰ̓ντῐ́ (ăntĭ́)
- Ancient Greekἀντι- (anti-)
- Englishanti-
From Ancient Greek ἀντι- (anti-, “against”). Cognate with Old English and- (“against, in return, back, un-”), German ent- (“off, away, un-”). Doublet of ante- and un-.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →anti- · prefix
- Italiananti-
- Englishanti-
Probably largely from association with etymology 1, either in English or in French, although some early formations (especially antichamber) reflect Italian anti-.
More words from Italian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ضِدّ, مُضَادّ
- ضِدّ (ḍidd)against, hostile to
- مُضَادّ (muḍādd)against, hostile to
- نَقِيض (naqīḍ)against, hostile to
Bulgarian противо-, анти-
- противо- (protivo-)against, hostile to
- анти- (anti-)against, hostile to
- а́нти- (ánti-)against, hostile to
Catalan anti-
- anti-against, hostile to
Chinese Mandarin 反-, 抗
- 反- (fǎn-)against, hostile to
- 抗 (kàng)against, hostile to
- 非 (fēi)against, hostile to
- 反對 /反对 (fǎnduì)against, hostile to
Czech anti-, proti-
- anti-against, hostile to
- proti-against, hostile to
Dutch anti-
- anti-against, hostile to
Esperanto kontraŭ-
- kontraŭ-against, hostile to
Estonian anti-
- anti-against, hostile to
Finnish anti-, vasta-
- anti-against, hostile to
- vasta-against, hostile to
- epä-against, hostile to
French anti-
- anti-against, hostile to
German gegen-, anti-
- gegen-against, hostile to
- anti-against, hostile to
Greek αντι-
- αντι- (anti-)against, hostile to
Hebrew אנטי־
- אנטי־ (anti-)against, hostile to
Hindi प्रति-
- प्रति- (prati-)against, hostile to
Hungarian ellen-, -ellenes
- ellen-against, hostile to
- -ellenesagainst, hostile to
- elleniagainst, hostile to
- anti-against, hostile to
Irish anta-
- anta-against, hostile to
Italian anti-
- anti-against, hostile to
Japanese 反-, 非
- 反- (han-)against, hostile to
- 非 (hi)against, hostile to
- 逆 (gyaku)against, hostile to
- 反対 (hantai)against, hostile to
Korean 안티, 반(反)-
- 안티 (anti)against, hostile to
- 반(反)- (ban-)against, hostile to
Latin contra-
- contra-against, hostile to
Latvian pret-, anti-
- pret-against, hostile to
- anti-against, hostile to
Malay anti-
- anti-against, hostile to
Māori ātete
- āteteagainst, hostile to
Persian آنتی, پادـ
- آنتی (ânti-)against, hostile to
- پادـ (pâd-)against, hostile to
Polish anty-, przeciw-
- anty-against, hostile to
- przeciw-against, hostile to
Portuguese anti-
- anti-against, hostile to
Romanian anti-, contra-
- anti-against, hostile to
- contra-against, hostile to
Russian про́тиво-, противо-
- про́тиво- (prótivo-)against, hostile to
- противо- (protivo-)against, hostile to
- а́нти- (ánti-)against, hostile to
- анти- (anti-)against, hostile to
Spanish anti-, contra-
- anti-against, hostile to
- contra-against, hostile to
Swedish anti-
- anti-against, hostile to
Tamil எதிர்
- எதிர் (etir)against, hostile to
Vietnamese chống
- chốngagainst, hostile to
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
anti-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anti-
“anti-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anti-. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anti-,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anti-.
Source: anti- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.