hostility

English

Etymology

From Middle English hostilitie, hostilite, from Old French hostilité, from Latin hostīlitās. By surface analysis, hostile +‎ -ity.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /hɒsˈtɪlɪti/
  • (General American, Atlantic Canada) IPA(key): /hɑˈstɪlɪti/, [hɑˈstɪlɪɾi], /hɑˈstɪləti/, [hɑˈstɪləɾi]
    • Audio (US):(file)
  • (Canada) IPA(key): /hɒsˈtɪlɪti/, [hɒsˈtɪlɪɾi], /hɒsˈtɪləti/, [hɒsˈtɪləɾi]
  • Rhymes: -ɪlɪti

Noun

hostility (countable and uncountable, plural hostilities)

  1. (uncountable) The state of being hostile.
    My resentment and anger towards you caused hostility and a division between us.
    • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
      There is no hostilitie so excellent, as that which is absolutely Christian.
    • 2011 October 1, Phil McNulty, “Everton 0-2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport‎[1], archived from the original on 3 April 2017:
      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.
    • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in The New York Times‎[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 October 2021, retrieved 28 September 2013:
      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.
  2. (countable) A hostile action, especially a military action. See hostilities for specific plural definition.
    • 2006, Michael P. Young, Bearing Witness Against Sin:
      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.

Synonyms

Antonyms

  • (antonym(s) of “state of being hostile”): amity, friendliness
  • (antonym(s) of “military action”): peace

Derived terms

Translations

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