hostile

hostile
adjective
1)

a hostile attack

Syn:
unfriendly, unkind, bitter, unsympathetic, malicious, vicious, rancorous, venomous, poisonous, virulent; antagonistic, aggressive, confrontational, belligerent, truculent, vitriolic; bellicose, pugnacious, warlike
Ant:
friendly, mild
2)

hostile conditions

Syn:
unfavorable, adverse, bad, harsh, grim, hard, tough, brutal, fierce, inhospitable, forbidding, menacing, threatening
Ant:
favorable
3)

they are hostile to the idea

Syn:
opposed to, averse to, antagonistic to, ill-disposed to, disapproving of, unsympathetic to, antipathetic to; opposing, against, inimical to; informal anti, down on
••
hostile, adverse, bellicose, belligerent, inimical
Few people have trouble recognizing hostility when confronted with it. Someone who is hostile displays an attitude of intense ill will and acts like an enemy (the audience grew hostile after waiting an hour for the show to start). Both bellicose and belligerent imply a readiness or eagerness to fight, but the former is used to describe a state of mind or temper (after drinking all night, he was in a bellicose mood), while the latter is normally used to describe someone who is actively engaged in hostilities (the belligerent brothers were at it again). While hostile and belligerent usually apply to people, adverse and inimical are used describe tendencies or influences. Inimical means having an antagonistic tendency (remarks that were inimical to everything she believed in), and adverse means turned toward something in opposition (an adverse wind; under adverse circumstances). Unlike hostile, adverse and inimical need not connote the involvement of human feeling.

Thesaurus of popular words. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?
Synonyms:
, / , , , , , ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • hostile — Hostile …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • hostile — [ ɔstil ] adj. • 1450, rare XVIIe XVIIIe; lat. hostilis, de hostis « ennemi » 1 ♦ Qui manifeste de l agressivité, se conduit en ennemi. Pays, puissance hostile. Groupes hostiles qui se font la guerre. ⇒ adverse, ennemi. Foule hostile et menaçante …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • hostile — hos·tile adj 1: having an intimidating, antagonistic, or offensive nature a hostile work environment 2 a: of or relating to an opposing party in a legal action a hostile claim b: adverse to the interests of a party to a legal action if the… …   Law dictionary

  • hostile — hos‧tile [ˈhɒstaɪl ǁ ˈhɑːstl, ˈhɑːstaɪl] adjective FINANCE a hostile bid or takeover is one in which a company tries to buy another company whose shareholder S do not want to sell: • They ve managed to fight off a hostile takeover bid. * * * …   Financial and business terms

  • Hostile — Hos tile, a. [L. hostilis, from hostis enemy: cf. F. hostile. See {Host} an army.] Belonging or appropriate to an enemy; showing the disposition of an enemy; showing ill will and malevolence, or a desire to thwart and injure; occupied by an enemy …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hostile — (adj.) late 15c., from M.Fr. hostile of or belonging to an enemy or directly from L. hostilis of an enemy, from hostis enemy (see GUEST (Cf. guest)). The noun meaning hostile person is recorded from 1838, Amer.Eng., a word from the Indian Wars …   Etymology dictionary

  • hostile — [häs′təl; ] chiefly Brit [, häs′tīl΄] adj. [L hostilis < hostis, enemy: see HOSPICE] 1. of or characteristic of an enemy; warlike 2. having or showing ill will; unfriendly; antagonistic 3. not hospitable or compatible; adverse 4. Finance of or …   English World dictionary

  • Hostile — Hos tile, n. An enemy; esp., an American Indian in arms against the whites; commonly in the plural. [Colloq.] P. H. Sheridan. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hostile — [adj] antagonistic, mean adverse, alien, allergic, anti*, argumentative, bellicose, belligerent, bitter, catty*, chill*, cold*, competitive, contentious, contrary, disapproving, dour, hateful, ill disposed, inhospitable, inimical, malevolent,… …   New thesaurus

  • hostile — ► ADJECTIVE 1) antagonistic; opposed. 2) of or belonging to a military enemy. 3) (of a takeover bid) opposed by the company to be bought. DERIVATIVES hostilely adverb hostility noun (pl. hostilities) . ORIGIN …   English terms dictionary

  • hostile — hos|tile [ hastl ] adjective ** ▸ 1 unfriendly/threatening ▸ 2 opposing something ▸ 3 of/done by enemy in war ▸ 4 difficult/dangerous ▸ 5 in business 1. ) behaving in a very unfriendly or threatening way toward someone: The mayor found himself in …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”