antagonize vs irritate

antagonize and irritate both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
antagonize	No	No	Yes	No
irritate	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, irritate is a hypernym of antagonize; that is, irritate is a word with a broader meaning than antagonize:

Other hypernyms of antagonize include annoy, bother, chafe, devil, get at, get to, gravel, nark, nettle, rag, rile, vex.

antagonize (verb)	irritate (verb)
provoke the hostility of	excite to an abnormal condition, or chafe or inflame
act in opposition to	excite to some characteristic action or condition, such as motion, contraction, or nervous impulse, by the application of a stimulus
	cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations