inhospitable

[in-hos-pi-tuh-buhl, in-ho-spit-uh-buhl]

adjective

1. not inclined to, or characterized by, hospitality, as persons or actions; unfriendly.

2. (of a region, climate, etc.) not offering shelter, favorable conditions, etc.; barren.

   an inhospitable rocky coast.

inhospitable

/ ˌɪnhɒˈspɪt-, ɪnˈhɒspɪtəbəl /

adjective

1. not hospitable; unfriendly

2. (of a region, an environment, etc) lacking a favourable climate, terrain, etc

Other Word Forms

• inhospitableness noun
• inhospitably adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of inhospitable¹

1560–70; < Middle French < Medieval Latin inhospitābilis. See in- ³, hospitable

Example Sentences

And so, on a black Christmas night, with sleet volleying into their faces, columns of men struggled through some of the most inhospitable fields to ever yield up a victory.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Paupers! Pirates! What a dreadful place London is. Wild horses could not induce me to return to this inhospitable city—Mrs. Clarke!”

Read more on Literature

Building on their findings, Kumawat and his colleagues now plan to cultivate these microorganisms in controlled incubators to learn more about how they obtain nutrients and persist in such inhospitable environments.

Read more on Science Daily

If you were familiar with the old museum, the enormous new one—which at times feels inhospitable to the intimacies art requires—may be more than disorienting.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Trying to shift the terms of debate, especially via a medium like cable news, is structurally inhospitable.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• hostile 
• unfavorable