1
as in hatred
a deep-seated ill will
a lingering hostility between the two neighbors ever since since they had that property-line dispute
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in conflict
hostilities plural
a state of armed violent struggle between states, nations, or groups
Both sides agreed to cease all hostilities.
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hostility
Just as there are others who are pushing for a more diplomatic, peaceful end to the hostilities between Harry and the royal family.
—
Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 13 Sep. 2025
Preceding the outbreak of hostilities, both Ukraine and Russia obtained these types of drones.
—Joseph Nepomuceno, The Washington Examiner, 13 Sep. 2025
All sides, though, seem to converge around a dark view that the country is too divided, the rhetoric too venomous and the violence too frequent to sustain the American experiment unless something happens to ease partisan hostilities and bring the sides together.
—Mike Lillis, The Hill, 13 Sep. 2025
Any post viewed as promoting hostility or violence would break the company’s social media policy.
—Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hostility
Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 13 Sep. 2025
Preceding the outbreak of hostilities, both Ukraine and Russia obtained these types of drones.
—Joseph Nepomuceno, The Washington Examiner, 13 Sep. 2025
All sides, though, seem to converge around a dark view that the country is too divided, the rhetoric too venomous and the violence too frequent to sustain the American experiment unless something happens to ease partisan hostilities and bring the sides together.
—Mike Lillis, The Hill, 13 Sep. 2025
Any post viewed as promoting hostility or violence would break the company’s social media policy.
—Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hostility
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hostility
Noun
-
Foreign perpetrators have been linked to previous acts intended to incite hatred.—
Saskya Vandoorne,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
-
The left is always, at all times and places, a violent phenomenon full of hatred.—
Ross O'Keefe,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Israel has also bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen in the course of the Gaza conflict.—
Jarrett Renshaw,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
-
If both polls and discussions with my friends are anything to go by, Americans feel forever locked in a state of political conflict.—
Sarah Stein Lubrano,
Mercury News,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Darkly funny and deeply melancholic, the film turns the family estate into a pressure cooker of grief, grudges and reluctant affection.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Sep. 2025
-
After Abe’s assassination in 2022 by a suspect who said he was motivated by a grudge against the church, an internal survey in the LDP later found that nearly half of the party’s members had links to it.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The food industry has weathered trade wars before, but this feels different in its scope and unpredictability.—
Phil Lempert,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Grain prices have returned to normalcy after the pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war upset supply chains.—
Jonathan Lansner,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
But her private letters to her sister Cassandra show a sharper and more astringent person, someone whose cruelty and bitterness were redeemed only by her jokes.—
Lucy Worsley
September 16,
Literary Hub,
16 Sep. 2025
-
The Bitter Mai Tai is a full-fledged neo classic, first bright with lime and rum, then deep with almond, and then—where a standard Mai Tai would fall away with a lingering malic zing—the Bitter Mai Tai rises in a bold third act, humming with bitterness and the banana-funk of the rum.—
Jason O'Bryan,
Robb Report,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Viktor Kovalenko, a Ukrainian veteran who produces the Ukraine Decoded Substack, told Newsweek on Monday that there is a high level of animosity between Putin and Zelensky.—
Brendan Cole,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Sep. 2025
-
But when the parties are helping organize the animosity, the violence itself can become more institutionalized.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Heading in, Republicans don’t seem eager to echo the antagonism from the right.—
Burgess Everett,
semafor.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Daniel finally gets the full scope of their antagonism, which means their burden is now to convince him of their righteousness.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Too much of today’s public discourse, especially online, fosters enmity instead of empathy.—
Russell M. Nelson,
Time,
5 Sep. 2025
-
While there’s no love triangle, The Long Walk treats its allegiances and enmities with a grandeur that rivals any romance, especially the connection between its hero, Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman), and his friend Peter McVries (David Jonsson).—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hostility.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hostility. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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