Synonyms for hostility
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Enmity — the state of being hostile
enmity, antagonism, animosity, hatred, antipathy, ill-will, opposition, animus, hate, repugnance, feud, clashing, unfriendliness, contrariety, froideur, rancor US, rancour UK, malice, malevolence, dislike, aversion, contradiction
2. Fighting — A hostile action, especially a military action. See hostilities for specific plural definition
Other
Definitions
- n. 1
The state of being hostile.
My resentment and anger towards you caused hostility and a division between us.
- n. 2
A hostile action, especially a military action. See hostilities for specific plural definition.
Related words
- Word family
- hostile
Forms
- Plural
- hostilities → enmities, antagonisms, animosities, hatreds…
Choose the right word
A natural antipathy may give rise to opposition which may result in hatred and hostility.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- hatred Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world.
- animosity Then that animosity is being passed on down to us?
- enmity The incident earned Dan the enmity of his boss.
- antagonism Their ancient antagonism was rekindled.
- warfare The two countries are engaged in biological warfare.
- aggression People who are prone to aggression can be dangerous.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| hostility | steady | |
| hatred | rising | |
| animosity | rising | |
| enmity | steady | |
| antagonism | steady | |
| warfare | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- war1
- 4 letters
- hate1, feud1
- 6 letters
- combat2, hatred2, strife1, malice2, enmity3, animus3, rancor2
- 7 letters
- warfare2, dislike2, rancour
- 8 letters
- fighting2, aversion3, clashing2, froideur
- 9 letters
- animosity5, antipathy4
- 10 letters
- opposition4, aggression3, contention3, antagonism5, repugnance
- 11 letters
- malevolence, contrariety
- 13 letters
- contradiction4
- 14 letters
- unfriendliness
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (combat2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- hostilité
- Italiano
- ostilità
- Español
- hostilidad
- Deutsch
- Feindseligkeit