conflict
Americanverb (used without object)
-
conflicts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
conflicted,
past participle, past
-
conflicting
present participle
noun
-
conflicts
plural
-
a fight, battle, or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle; strife.
-
controversy; quarrel.
conflicts between parties.
- Antonyms:
- accord
-
discord of action, feeling, or effect; antagonism or opposition, as of interests or principles.
a conflict of ideas.
- Synonyms:
- opposition, contention
-
a striking together; collision.
-
incompatibility or interference, as of one idea, desire, event, or activity with another.
a conflict in the schedule.
-
Psychiatry. a mental struggle arising from opposing demands or impulses.
noun
-
a struggle or clash between opposing forces; battle
-
a state of opposition between ideas, interests, etc; disagreement or controversy
-
a clash, as between two appointments made for the same time
-
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
-
to come into opposition; clash
-
to fight
Synonym Usage
See fight.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
conflictionnoun
-
preconflictnoun
-
self-conflictnoun
-
preconflictverb (used without object)
-
conflictiveadjective
-
conflictoryadjective
-
nonconflictiveadjective
-
unconflictiveadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
conflictsimple
-
conflictssimple
-
have conflictedperfect
-
has conflictedperfect
-
am conflictingprogressive
-
are conflictingprogressive
-
is conflictingprogressive
-
have been conflictingperfect progressive
-
has been conflictingperfect progressive
Past
-
conflictedsimple
-
had conflictedperfect
-
was conflictingprogressive
-
were conflictingprogressive
-
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)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
List 7
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Essential Literary Terms
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
On the one hand holding back growth are the familiar, recurring crises from the energy shock, trade conflict and actual war.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Levine said an internal analysis found the bonds were not a sound financial investment, especially during a time of conflict in the region.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
"It is coming into serious conflict with the peace efforts of the United States and American negotiators, who are making vigorous efforts to initiate the peace process," he added.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
He attributed the market volatility to escalating geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
The result is a structural conflict in the nature of science, a conflict whose origins are historical.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
The conflicts are raw and unresolved, and Churchill forces theatergoers to make up their own minds about the characters’ furious dialect.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Healey is expected to meet with other finance ministers at the IMF's annual meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday to discuss how the economic impact of the Middle East and European conflicts could be limited.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
In the 20th century, national self-assertion generated two conflicts that devastated Europe and left few parts of the globe untouched.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
"There are conflicts around the world, economic pressures, debt and a lot of, let's say, competing demands on government's attention," said Schomaker.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
And if not, to what extent are contemporary American conflicts over race the playing out, at least in part, of a cultural divide that came into being hundreds of years before Columbus?
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
As she unpacks her bags, she is clearly conflicted.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
The author himself was conflicted about her, writing Cathy as a dangerous beauty incapable of empathy in his book, yet expressing how dear she was to him in letters to his editor, Pascal Covici.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
My fellow leadership texted me that although I was “entitled” to my “personal views,” the essay conflicted with DSP’s values.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Activity that conflicted between the two brain regions quickly disappeared, while activity shared by both areas lasted longer.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
Nailer looked back at his father, conflicted emotions warring within him.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
Today, consumers and companies face a patchwork of state programs and conflicting labeling requirements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
This is a really complex topic, with many conflicting elements to it.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
The uncertain status of TPS has led to sometime conflicting actions by government agencies or employers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
The geopolitics of the Horn of Africa are fiendishly complex, with shifting alliances and the involvement of many outside actors with conflicting interests.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
The upshot is that physics had two theories, based on conflicting premises, that produced the same results.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
