hostile
Other forms: hostiles
If something is hostile, it's unfriendly. If you are zealous about the political causes you believe in, you will be hostile to any suggestion that the other side of the argument is reasonable.
Hostile comes from the Latin word hostis, for enemy, and you can hear its relation to the word hostage. But you don't have to be from a warring nation to be hostile. You can talk about a hostile nation, a hostile takeover, a hostile remark, or a hostile attitude. Some synonyms are inimical, antagonistic, unfavorable, unfriendly.
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characterized by enmity or ill will“a hostile nation”“a hostile remark”“hostile actions”synonyms:aggressivehaving or showing determination and energetic pursuit of your endsunfriendlynot disposed to friendship or friendlinessat loggerheadsin a dispute or confrontationbitterproceeding from or exhibiting great hostility or animositydirtyexpressing or revealing hostility or dislikehead-oncharacterized by direct oppositionillindicating hostility or enmityhatefulevoking or deserving hatredoffensivefor the purpose of attack rather than defenseunpeacefulnot peacefulviolentacting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity
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not belonging to your own country's forces or those of an ally“hostile naval and air forces”antonyms:friendlyof or belonging to your own country's forces or those of an ally
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unsolicited and resisted by the management of the target company (used of attempts to buy or take control of a business)“hostile takeover”“hostile tender offer”“hostile bid”synonyms:aggressivehaving or showing determination and energetic pursuit of your ends
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impossible to bring into friendly accord“hostile factions”synonyms:
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very unfavorable to life or growth
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troops belonging to the enemy's military forces“the platoon ran into a pack of hostiles”antonyms:friendlytroops belonging to or allied with your own military forcestype of:
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hostile / hostel
Vocabulary lists containing hostile
On the SAT, all of the Reading Test questions are multiple choice and are based on reading passages that may be taken from literature, science, the social sciences, or a U.S. founding document (or a text inspired by such a document). Many of the reading comprehension questions meant to assess a student’s understanding of those passages will require students to choose words that best describe the writer’s tone or point of view, words like the 25 words you see on this list. Learn them here so when you see them in an SAT answer choice, you’ll know what they mean! Following our Roadmap to the SAT? Head back to see what else you should be learning this week.
Words that sound the same but are spelled differently (a type of homonym) can be stumbling blocks in comprehension or when trying to communicate something in writing. If you know that there's "peek" "peak" and "pique," which one do you use to describe what your character did at the window? If you use the wrong one, then your character has reached the heights (peak) or is having a fit if anger (pique) by the window. Is that what you mean? Is the character simply looking through that window (peek)? As you can see, all these words sound the same but suggest very different things. Here are 32 vocabulary words that are often confused.
When the Watson family pays Grandma a visit in Alabama, they find themselves caught up in the battle for civil rights.