strife

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /straɪf/ UK /straɪf/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
angry or bitter conflict or disagreement

Years of civil strife had torn the small nation apart.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · angry or bitter conflict or... conflict discord contention friction dissension quarreling feud

Opposites

peace harmony accord concord

Word family

Derived forms strifefulstrifeless

Related forms strive

Simplified etymology

Strife, like strive, comes from a shortened form of Old French estriver, “to strive.”

Etymology

From Middle English strif, from Old French estrif ('strife, quarrel, combat'), probably of Germanic origin and related to estriver ('to strive').

estrif Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# strife

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /straɪf/
**IPA (UK):** /straɪf/

## Meanings
1. angry or bitter conflict or disagreement

## Examples
- Years of civil strife had torn the small nation apart.

## Synonyms
- conflict
- discord
- contention
- friction
- dissension
- quarreling
- feud

## Antonyms
- peace
- harmony
- accord
- concord

## Derived Forms
- strifeful
- strifeless

## Related Forms
- strive

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: estrif

## Etymology
From Middle English strif, from Old French estrif ('strife, quarrel, combat'), probably of Germanic origin and related to estriver ('to strive').

## AI Etymology
Strife is from Middle English strif, from Old French estrif ('strife, quarrel, combat'), probably of Germanic origin and related to estriver ('to strive'). Important recorded forms include estrif (Old French). The wording preserves that uncertainty: the older history is best read as a cautious account rather than a fully settled chain. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers angry or bitter conflict or disagreement. The wider family includes derived forms such as strifeful and strifeless and related words such as strive.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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