animus
Saying you have animus toward a person is a fancy way of saying that you hate their guts. You could also say that an animus exists between two people. That's when they hate each others' guts.
If you're familiar with the word animosity, meaning bad feelings, you're only a hop, skip, or jump away from understanding animus. But then it gets tricky. The word can also mean a motivating force — you could refer to the fear of infection as the animus behind a movement to sterilize public buildings.
Vocabulary lists containing animus
This classic novel traces the intersecting lives of residents of an English village in the early 19th century. Read the full text here.
In this award-winning book, civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander argues that the American criminal justice system unfairly targets and penalizes African Americans, resulting in long-term harm to black communities.
Learn these words derived from the Latin root anim, which has many meanings, including "breath," "mind," "spirit," and "courage."
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