Antonyms of noun catalyst

1 of 2 senses of catalyst

Sense 1
catalyst, accelerator -- ((chemistry) a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected)
       Antonym of anticatalyst (Sense 1)
      => anticatalyst -- ((chemistry) a substance that retards a chemical reaction or diminishes the activity of a catalyst)

Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun catalyst

2 senses of catalyst

Sense 1
catalyst, accelerator -- ((chemistry) a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected)
       => activator -- ((biology) any agency bringing about activation; a molecule that increases the activity of an enzyme or a protein that increases the production of a gene product in DNA transcription)

Sense 2
catalyst -- (something that causes an important event to happen; "the invasion acted as a catalyst to unite the country")
       => causal agent, cause, causal agency -- (any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results)