English

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Etymology

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From Middle English hostilitie, hostilite, from Old French hostilité, from Latin hostīlitās.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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:
      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 New York Times, 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.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.