hostile
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of an enemy.
a hostile nation.
- Synonyms:
- aggressive, warlike
- Antonyms:
- friendly
-
opposed in feeling, action, or character; antagonistic.
hostile criticism.
- Antonyms:
- friendly
-
characterized by antagonism.
- Antonyms:
- sympathetic
-
not friendly, warm, or generous; not hospitable.
noun
-
hostiles
plural
-
a person or thing that is antagonistic or unfriendly.
-
Military. an enemy soldier, plane, ship, etc.
adjective
-
antagonistic; opposed
-
of or relating to an enemy
-
unfriendly
noun
Synonym Usage
Hostile, inimical indicate that which characterizes an enemy or something injurious to one's interests. Hostile applies to the spirit, attitude, or action of an enemy: They showed a hostile and menacing attitude. Inimical applies to an antagonistic or injurious tendency or influence: Their remarks were inimical to his reputation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
interhostileadjective
-
nonhostileadjective
-
overhostileadjective
-
prehostileadjective
-
semihostileadjective
-
unhostileadjective
-
hostilelyadverb
-
nonhostilelyadverb
-
overhostilelyadverb
-
semihostilelyadverb
-
unhostilelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hostile
First recorded in 1585–95; from Latin hostīlis, equivalent to hostis “enemy” ( see host 2) + -īlis -ile
Explanation
If something is hostile, it's unfriendly. If you are zealous about the political causes you believe in, you will be hostile to any suggestion that the other side of the argument is reasonable. Hostile comes from the Latin word hostis, for enemy, and you can hear its relation to the word hostage. But you don't have to be from a warring nation to be hostile. You can talk about a hostile nation, a hostile takeover, a hostile remark, or a hostile attitude. Some synonyms are inimical, antagonistic, unfavorable, unfriendly.
Vocabulary lists containing hostile
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"However, as recent events have shown, Counter Terrorism Policing will seek to proactively disrupt any attempts by hostile states to carry out criminal acts in the UK."
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Beyond Texas, the team at 22V Research already expects other states to turn increasingly hostile toward data centers.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
Mixed-genet pairings resulted in the corals deploying stinging cells, a hostile response that can be likened to organ rejection in humans.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Stafford was asked this week how he managed to stay calm, not feel rattled and still take shots at clutch plays after committing turnovers in a hostile environment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
“I bet the Pechenegs are just as hostile toward dragons as the tsar is. We couldn’t bring you here as a dragon. They’d kill you. So she changed you.”
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
Meanwhile, around 3,000 Pakistanis have left Iran since hostiles began.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025
Another 2020, another arrival from extraterrestrial hostiles, this time with the ability to hunt with surgical precision based on nothing but sound.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 6, 2020
The kitchen loves its star patty so much that the cooks sometimes act as if they’re protecting it from hostiles — or the condiments Jaffe mentioned.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 20, 2018
While space traveling on branching paths, the player lands on nodes that become arenas with attacking hostiles in fun, turn-based fights in a retro, 8-bit presentation.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 7, 2017
The Retrieval Squad put down just inside the boundary and began an immediate scan for possible hostiles.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
