inhospitable

American  

[in-hos-pi-tuh-buhl, in-ho-spit-uh-buhl] / ɪnˈhɒs pɪ tə bəl, ˌɪn hɒˈspɪt ə bəl /

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.

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inhospitable British  

/ ˌɪnhɒˈspɪt-, ɪnˈhɒspɪtəbəl /

adjective

1. not hospitable; unfriendly

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

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Other Word Forms

• inhospitableness noun
• inhospitably adverb

Etymology

Origin of inhospitable

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

Example Sentences

With her inquisitive eyes and lush, white tail, which she wraps around herself like a scarf, Rana is a friendly guide to an inhospitable world.

From The Wall Street Journal

Canada's Arctic is a massive, treacherous, and largely inhospitable place, stretched out over nearly 4 million square kilometres of territory - but with a small population roughly equal to Blackburn in England or Syracuse, New York.

From BBC

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.

From 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!”

From 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.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• hostile
• unfavorable