hostility

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /hɑˈstɪlɪti/ UK /hɒˈstɪlɪti/ See IPA manual

Freq #13649

Meanings

1

noun
Strong unfriendliness or opposition towards someone or something.

There was open hostility between the two political parties.
2

noun
Acts of war or fighting between opposing sides.

Both nations agreed to end hostilities and begin peace talks.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · strong unfriendliness or... animosity antagonism enmityill will

2 noun · acts of war or fighting... combat fighting war

Opposites

amity friendliness peace

Word family

Forms hostilities

Derived forms nonhostilityprehostility

Related forms hostile

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

latent hostility
hostile feeling that is present but not openly expressed

Adjective + noun

Etymology

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

hostilitie Middle English hostilité Old French hostīlitās Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# hostility

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /hɑˈstɪlɪti/
**IPA (UK):** /hɒˈstɪlɪti/
**Frequency rank:** 13649

## Meanings
1. Strong unfriendliness or opposition towards someone or something.
2. Acts of war or fighting between opposing sides.

## Examples
- There was open hostility between the two political parties.
- Both nations agreed to end hostilities and begin peace talks.

## Antonyms
- amity
- friendliness
- peace

## Derived Forms
- nonhostility
- prehostility

## Related Forms
- hostile

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hostilitie
- Root: hostilité
- Root: hostīlitās

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

## AI Etymology
Hostility is from Middle English hostilitie, hostilite, from Old French hostilité, from Latin hostīlitās. By surface analysis, hostile + -ity. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. In present-day use, it can mean strong unfriendliness or opposition towards someone or something, or acts of war or fighting between opposing sides. Related forms include hostile. Derived formations include nonhostility, prehostility.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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