as in hostility
a deep-seated ill will
feeling no animus toward those who had wronged her
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of animus
Other policies convey the administration’s animus to migrants—first-generation, second-generation, low-skilled, high-skilled.
—
Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 18 Jan. 2026
What followed appears to be a calculated effort to construct a case, driven by animus not fact, despite prior investigations finding no evidence of wrongdoing.
—Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026
What followed appears to be a calculated effort to construct a case, driven by animus not fact, despite prior investigations finding no evidence of wrongdoing.
—Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Conflicting ideologies and worldviews have created an unbridgeable gulf of mistrust and animus.
—Kevin Whitaker, Foreign Affairs, 15 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for animus
Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 18 Jan. 2026
What followed appears to be a calculated effort to construct a case, driven by animus not fact, despite prior investigations finding no evidence of wrongdoing.
—Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026
What followed appears to be a calculated effort to construct a case, driven by animus not fact, despite prior investigations finding no evidence of wrongdoing.
—Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Conflicting ideologies and worldviews have created an unbridgeable gulf of mistrust and animus.
—Kevin Whitaker, Foreign Affairs, 15 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for animus
Recent Examples of Synonyms for animus
Noun
-
Instead, an arcane academic skirmish has devolved into open hostilities.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
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Fox News Digital reviewed internal Signal chat messages from Seattle-area rapid response groups showing that the rejection of whistles triggered open hostility.—
Asra Q. Nomani,
FOXNews.com,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
This one-year penance business reeks of score-settling, petty grudges and arm-twisting.—
Steve Buckley,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026
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Some can hold grudges for years.—
Steve Fryer,
Oc Register,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Emily Brontë’s novel is a book that stains — its emotions seep through generations, its hatreds metastasize, its love transforms into something unholy and permanent.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
11 Feb. 2026
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The Talmud teaches that Jerusalem was destroyed not only because of hatred, but because of sinat chinam, baseless hatred fueled by moral absolutism.—
Rabbi Bruce D. Forman,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Animus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/animus. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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