inhospitable

[ in-hos-pi-tuh-buhl, in-ho-spit-uh-buhl ]
See synonyms for inhospitable on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. not inclined to, or characterized by, hospitality, as persons or actions; unfriendly.

  2. (of a region, climate, etc.) not offering shelter, favorable conditions, etc.; barren: an inhospitable rocky coast.

Origin of inhospitable

1
1560–70; <Middle French <Medieval Latin inhospitābilis.See in-3, hospitable

Other words from inhospitable

  • in·hos·pi·ta·ble·ness, noun
  • in·hos·pi·ta·bly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use inhospitable in a sentence

  • It seems a long while since she inhospitably requested me to make myself scarce.

  • To stand up would show, he thought, that he was not inhospitably eager to detain the parting guest.

    The Mark Of Cain | Andrew Lang
  • He had tried a well-known drain near Cleshey Farm House; but it had been inhospitably, nay cruelly, closed against him.

    Can You Forgive Her? | Anthony Trollope
  • Of all comers here, I who expected most kindly welcome am most inhospitably treated.

    In New England Fields and Woods | Rowland E. Robinson
  • The transparently blue blocks of ice inhospitably float on the shaking cold water and press against the dark rock of the island.

    Mother | Maksim Gorky

British Dictionary definitions for inhospitable

inhospitable

/ (ɪnˈhɒspɪtəbəl, ˌɪnhɒˈspɪt-) /


adjective
  1. not hospitable; unfriendly

  2. (of a region, an environment, etc) lacking a favourable climate, terrain, etc

Derived forms of inhospitable

  • inhospitableness, noun
  • inhospitably, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012