hostility
nounUK /hɒˈstɪlɪti/ · US /hɑˈstɪlɪti/
Etymology From Middle English hostilitie, hostilite, from Old French hostilité, from Latin hostīlitās. By surface analysis, hostile + -ity.
1
The state of being hostile.
- My resentment and anger towards you caused hostility and a division between us.
- There is no hostilitie so excellent, as that which is absolutely Christian.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
2 more examples
- But with Goodison Park openly directing its full hostility towards Atkinson, Liverpool went ahead when Carroll turned in his first Premier League goal of the season after 70 minutes.2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0-2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 03 Apr 2017:
- The polarization of wealth and the polarization of attitudes to diversity are not unrelated. A key reason for popular hostility to immigrants is that to many people, particularly within working-class communities, immigration has become a symbol of unacceptable change.2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 10 Oct 2021, retrieved 28 Sep 2013:
2
A hostile action, especially a military action. See hostilities for specific plural definition.
- As the revivals died down in the 1740s, the revivalist camp made concessions to their opponents, admonished prorevivalists who continued with the hostilities, and generally sought to heal divisions.2006, Michael P. Young, Bearing Witness Against Sin:
- Synonyms
- antagonism, opposition, enmity, animosity, antipathy, hatred, unfriendliness, war, fighting, combat
- Antonyms
- amity, friendliness, peace
- Derived terms
- horizontal hostility, nonhostility, prehostility
- Related terms
- hostile