What is "agonistical"

Agonistic \Ag`o*nis"tic\, Agonistical \Ag`o*nis"tic*al\, a. [Gr. ?. See Agonism.] Pertaining to violent contests, bodily or mental; pertaining to athletic or polemic feats; athletic; combative; hence, strained; unnatural.

As a scholar, he [Dr. Parr] was brilliant, but he consumed his power in agonistic displays.
--De Quincey.

a. 1 Striving to overcome in argument; combative. 2 Struggling to achieve effect; strained and contrived. 3 Relating to contests, originally of the ancient Greeks.

adj. striving to overcome in argument; "a dialectical and agonistic approach" [syn: agonistic, combative]