inimical
Americanadjective
-
adverse in tendency or effect; unfavorable; harmful.
a climate inimical to health.
- Synonyms:
- noxious
-
a cold, inimical gaze.
- Synonyms:
- antagonistic
- Antonyms:
- friendly
adjective
-
adverse or unfavourable
-
not friendly; hostile
Related Words
See hostile.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inimical
First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin inimīc(us) “unfriendly, hostile” ( see enemy) + -al 1
Explanation
Censorship is inimical to freedom. So, most teenagers would argue, are curfews. To be inimical is to be harmful, antagonistic, or opposed to something. Inimical comes from the Latin word inimicus, meaning "enemy." It suggests acting like someone's enemy — being adverse, damaging, or downright hostile. It can refer to anything from emotions and actions to public policy. The U.S. government might declare that another nation's actions are inimical to national security — and your mom might declare that eating a dozen doughnuts every morning is inimical to your health. Be careful not to mix up inimical with inimitable, which means too good to be copied.
Vocabulary lists containing inimical
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Lord of the Flies
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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.
In a letter to the Supreme Court of Florida, the FTC Office of Policy Planning, Bureau of Competition wrote that “Such control by the ABA is inimical to the principles on which competition law rests.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
It recently backed a Cabinet viewed as inimical to its interests in a bid to unlock reconstruction funds.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2025
More broadly, a massive and growing media marketing complex culturally "manufactures" modern high-consumption lifestyles, which are inimical to the environment and to human health and well-being.
From Salon • Sep. 29, 2024
What we call the “criminal legal system” is actually a chaotic web of overlapping, often inimical, systems—plural.
From Slate • Mar. 8, 2022
Plantagenet has found these pre-WPA years inimical to his artistic inclinations.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
