enmity
Americannoun
plural
enmities-
a feeling or condition of hostility; hatred; ill will; animosity; antagonism.
-
(in a video game) the targeting for attack of a player character by an enemy, and the circumstance-specific strength of that targeting for any particular character; hate; aggro: Use the character’s ranged attack to get enmity.
Your tank needs to be spamming “Provoke” at that mob to increase his enmity, or else it’s going to turn and target your mages.
Use the character’s ranged attack to get enmity.
noun
Etymology
Origin of enmity
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English enemite, enmite, from Old French enemi(s)tie, from unattested Vulgar Latin inimīcitāt- (stem of inimīcitās ), equivalent to Latin inimīc(us) “(personal ) enemy” + -itāt- abstract noun suffix; enemy, -ity
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.
Despite a shared enmity for the United States and Israel, the Shiite and Sunni militias are bitter sectarian foes.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026
Franco-German enmity helped stoke and shape the century of ethnic conflict; in post-World War II Europe, Franco-German reconciliation became the foundation of what many hoped would be an enduring era of postethnic politics.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 19, 2026
Burundi has been a natural ally of DR Congo for years because of its enmity with Rwanda.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025
While the two men's enmity was never completely hidden, Newsom at least appeared to try a bipartisan hug that would keep the mercurial president involved in the costly recovery.
From Barron's • Nov. 8, 2025
Then it was back to Paris to work on the peace treaty ending the war, an experience that generated his lifelong enmity toward Franklin, who found him insufferably austere and obsessively diligent.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
