SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
hostility
noun
Strong ill will, antagonism, or active opposition.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Ill will or antagonism
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topHostility can remain an attitude; aggression describes behavior or a readiness to attack.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See hostility in use
The mediator's patient questions gradually reduced the hostility in the room.
The organizer's hostility became clear when he described the reporting students as enemies and tried to exclude them from future software meetings.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license