conflict
Americanverb (used without object)
-
conflicts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
conflicted,
past participle, past
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conflicting
present participle
noun
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conflicts
plural
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a fight, battle, or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle; strife.
-
controversy; quarrel.
conflicts between parties.
- Antonyms:
- accord
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discord of action, feeling, or effect; antagonism or opposition, as of interests or principles.
a conflict of ideas.
- Synonyms:
- opposition, contention
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a striking together; collision.
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incompatibility or interference, as of one idea, desire, event, or activity with another.
a conflict in the schedule.
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Psychiatry. a mental struggle arising from opposing demands or impulses.
noun
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a struggle or clash between opposing forces; battle
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a state of opposition between ideas, interests, etc; disagreement or controversy
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a clash, as between two appointments made for the same time
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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
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to come into opposition; clash
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to fight
Synonym Usage
See fight.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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conflictionnoun
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preconflictnoun
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self-conflictnoun
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preconflictverb (used without object)
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conflictiveadjective
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conflictoryadjective
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nonconflictiveadjective
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unconflictiveadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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conflictsimple
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conflictssimple
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have conflictedperfect
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has conflictedperfect
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am conflictingprogressive
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are conflictingprogressive
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is conflictingprogressive
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have been conflictingperfect progressive
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has been conflictingperfect progressive
Past
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conflictedsimple
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had conflictedperfect
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was conflictingprogressive
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were conflictingprogressive
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had been conflictingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of conflict
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
Explanation
A conflict is a struggle or an opposition. If you and your best friend both fall in love with the same person, you will have to find some way to resolve the conflict. Conflict comes from the Latin word for striking, but it isn't always violent. Conflict can arise from opposing ideas. If you want to turn your empty lot into a community garden but your wife envisions a shooting range, you have a conflict. If you're torn between two different desires, you're conflicted. Conflict can also be a verb. If you schedule a dentist appointment that conflicts with a meeting, you'll have to cancel one of them.
Vocabulary lists containing conflict
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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List 7
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Essential Literary Terms
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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:
"We see how Yersinia pestis splits into new branches during periods of conflict and spreads along the routes traveled by troops and displaced populations," said senior author Dr. Christiana L. Scheib.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
On Thursday, for the first time since the start of the conflict, analysts at JPMorgan said they don’t have a baseline view of oil markets.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
"For the first time since the start of the Iran conflict, we don't have a baseline view. We simply don't know how to model the endgame."
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
In 1614, after years of conflict with the settlers, he married off his teenage daughter Pocahontas to the English tobacco farmer John Rolfe, which brought a temporary truce.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
So much was at stake in the upcoming match that conflict was almost bound to result.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Looking at the cauldron of conflicts convulsing the world, the question is ever more pressing as to whether effective action is possible to stop the damage being done or ensure accountability when it does.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
“People are right to think about conflicts of interest and not being involved in commercial entanglements with the labs,” Purser said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
The software has the ability to analyze airline schedules and factors such as weather, airport runway capacity and operational constraints to predict air-traffic flows and identify potential conflicts before they occur.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Two weeks later, he pulled out of the project citing scheduling conflicts, and Harington was announced as the new Lockhart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
The city is known for its beauty—the glistening Lake Tanganyika, the winding Kalimabenge River—and also for its conflicts.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
Fellow fan Patti Ann has felt less conflicted over the backlash and instead said Sheeran was in a "no-win situation".
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
LMU’s Guerra said that he believed Pratt voters would be conflicted, and that many Pratt voters may simply choose to sit out the general election.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Plus, Nvidia puts $6 billion more behind open-weight models, and rare-book dealers are conflicted about AI-era sales boost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
"I am deeply conflicted, truly torn. I am free, yet in reality, I am not," the pastor told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
Maybe if I had thanked him at some point, I'd be feeling less conflicted now.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
These conflicting emotions are cued by music that enacts the characters’ inner lives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Born at home, she was never really sure of her birth date, and has written conflicting ones on forms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
“Americans are hearing conflicting messages about vaccines right now, and it’s understandable that people are asking whom they should trust,” Dr. Bruce Gellin of the Vaccine Integrity Project told NPR.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
He said Stacy was dealing with complex and conflicting circumstances - the fear that someone who "should" have been protecting her was dangerous, as well as "fear from outsiders looking in".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Mary Lou said, “No—I—no, it isn’t what you think—I—” Mr. Birkway liked this passage because it showed conflicting feelings about someone.
From "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech
Definitions 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.
