antipatia

Antipatia is a term used in several Romance languages—Italian antipatia, Spanish antipatía, and Portuguese antipatia—to denote a strong feeling of aversion or dislike toward a person, thing, idea, or group. In English, the closest cognate is antipathy.

It derives from Greek anti-'against' and pathos 'feeling', via Latin and into the modern Romance languages, and shares its roots with the English term antipathy.

As a psychological and social phenomenon, antipatia refers to an affective reaction that can lead to avoidance, negative judgments, or reluctance to engage. It may arise from personal experience, limited information, stereotypes, or cultural norms and can be conscious or unconscious.

Antipatia is not a clinical diagnosis; instead it describes a subjective attitude that can influence behavior, such as biased treatment, social exclusion, or conflict. It can be context-specific or persist across situations.

In Italian, antipatico describes a disagreeable person; in Spanish, antipatía; in Portuguese, antipatia. These terms reflect the everyday use of antipatia as both a felt emotion and a character judgment.

Related concepts include antipathy, dislike, prejudice, bias, empathy, and communication.