conflict

[kuhn-flikt, kon-flikt]

verb (used without object)

1. to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash.

   The account of one eyewitness conflicted with that of the other. My class conflicts with my going to the concert.

   Synonyms: oppose, collide

2. to fight or contend; do battle.

noun

1. a fight, battle, or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle; strife.

   Synonyms: siege, encounter

2. controversy; quarrel.

   conflicts between parties.

   Antonyms: accord

3. discord of action, feeling, or effect; antagonism or opposition, as of interests or principles.

   a conflict of ideas.

   Synonyms: opposition, contention

4. a striking together; collision.

5. incompatibility or interference, as of one idea, desire, event, or activity with another.

   a conflict in the schedule.

6. Psychiatry.,  a mental struggle arising from opposing demands or impulses.

conflict

noun

1. a struggle or clash between opposing forces; battle

2. a state of opposition between ideas, interests, etc; disagreement or controversy

3. a clash, as between two appointments made for the same time

4. psychol opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible wishes or drives, sometimes leading to a state of emotional tension and thought to be responsible for neuroses

verb

1. to come into opposition; clash

2. to fight

Other Word Forms

• confliction noun
• conflictive adjective
• conflictory adjective
• nonconflictive adjective
• preconflict noun
• self-conflict noun
• unconflictive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of conflict¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English (noun), from Latin conflīctus “a striking together,” equivalent to conflīg(ere) “to strike together, contend” ( con- con- + flīgere “to strike”) + -tus suffix of verb action; (verb) from Latin conflīctus, past participle of conflīgere, or by verb use of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of conflict¹

C15: from Latin conflictus, from conflīgere to combat, from flīgere to strike

Synonym Study

See fight.

Example Sentences

In Israel, however, a country exhausted by the conflict, polls have consistently suggested that most people want the conflict to end.

Read more on BBC

He called on all sides "to meet the commitments they have made, to end the war, and to build the foundations for a just and lasting end to the conflict".

Read more on BBC

The announcement comes after three days of indirect talks in Egypt - mediated by officials from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the US - aimed at bringing an end to the two-year conflict.

Read more on BBC

In a letter sent to Department of Justice Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Democratic lawmakers lambasted the White House’s “conflicting and increasingly desperate statements” in response to allegations of bribery leveled at Homan.

Read more on Salon

Yet he was embroiled in an ugly legal conflict with a neighbor in his apartment complex that included accusations of abuse and drug use.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• battle 
• clash 
• combat 
• competition 
• rivalry 
• strife 
• struggle 
• war