hostility
Other forms: hostilities
Hostility is the state of ill will and bad feeling. If a teacher embarrasses you in front of the whole class, you will probably regard him or her with hostility for the remainder of the school year.
Hostility can be used to describe aggressive relations between two countries as well as between people. The issue of territorial borders can often cause hostility between neighboring countries. If actual fighting breaks out, use the word hostilities to refer to the violent actions between them. The ordinary citizens of the countries involved will look forward to the end of hostilities when the two governments are able to work together for peace.
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a state of deep-seated ill-willsynonyms: antagonism, enmityexamples:Cold Wara state of political hostility that existed from 1945 until 1990 between countries led by the Soviet Union and countries led by the United Statestypes:state of war, wara legal state created by a declaration of war and ended by official declaration during which the international rules of war applycold wara state of political hostility between countries using means short of armed warfaresuspicionthe state of being suspectedproxy wara war instigated by a major power that does not itself participatecloudsuspicion affecting your reputationtype of:statethe way something is with respect to its main attributes
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violent action that is hostile and usually unprovokedsynonyms: aggressiontypes:meat grinderany action resulting in injury or destructiondomestic violenceviolence or physical abuse directed toward your spouse or domestic partner; usually violence by men against womenbanditrythe practice of plundering in gangsdespoilation, despoilment, despoliation, spoil, spoilation, spoliationthe act of stripping and taking by forcesackthe plundering of a place by an army or mob; usually involves destruction and slaughterroad rageviolence exhibited by drivers in traffictype of:actionsomething done (usually as opposed to something said)
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the feeling of a hostile person“he could no longer contain his hostility”types:class feelingfeelings of envy and resentment of one social or economic class for toward anotherantagonisman actively expressed feeling of dislike and hostilitywarpathhostile or belligerent moodheartburningintense resentmentenviousness, envya feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another
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a hostile (very unfriendly) disposition“he could not conceal his hostility”synonyms: ill willtype of:unfriendlinessan unfriendly disposition
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Vocabulary lists containing hostility
In this classic coming-of-age story, Scout Finch recounts her childhood in Maycomb, Alabama. When Scout's father is appointed to defend a black man in a high-profile trial, racial tensions in the small town come to a head. Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–11, Chapters 12–15, Chapters 16–19, Chapters 20–25, Chapters 26–31 Here is a link to our lists for Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States naval base located at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Over 2,400 Americans died. The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress to ask for a declaration of war. He began by referring to December 7th as "a date that will live in infamy." The Pearl Harbor attack brought the United States into World War II and was the most deadly foreign attack on American soil until the 9/11 attacks by al Qaeda in 2001.
A celebrated classic of the graphic novel form, Maus explores a man's relationship with his Holocaust-survivor father and with history itself.