Hostile

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: hos=tile

CIDE DICTIONARY

Hostile, a. [L. hostilis, from hostis enemy: cf. F. hostile. See Host an army.].

 Belonging or appropriate to an enemy; showing the disposition of an enemy; showing ill will and malevolence, or a desire to thwart and injure; occupied by an enemy or enemies; inimical; unfriendly; as, a hostile force; hostile intentions; a hostile country; hostile to a sudden change.

Syn. -- Warlike; inimical; unfriendly; antagonistic; opposed; adverse; opposite; contrary; repugnant.

Hostile, n. 

 An enemy; esp., an American Indian in arms against the whites; -- commonly in the plural.  P. H. Sheridan.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Hostile, adj.
1 of an enemy.
2 (often foll. by to) unfriendly, opposed.

Idiom

hostile witness Law a witness who appears hostile to the party calling him or her and therefore untrustworthy.

Derivative

hostilely adv.

Etymology

F hostile or L hostilis (as HOST(1))

THESAURUS

Hostile

acrid, adversary, adversative, adverse, adversive, against, aggressive, alien, allergic, antagonistic, anti, antipathetic, antithetic, antonymous, argumentative, at cross-purposes, at loggerheads, at odds, at variance, at war, averse, balancing, battling, bellicose, belligerent, bitter, bloodthirsty, bloody, bloody-minded, breakaway, caustic, chauvinist, chauvinistic, clashing, cold, colliding, combative, compensating, competitive, con, conflicting, confronting, contentious, contradicting, contradictory, contradistinct, contrapositive, contrarious, contrary, contrasted, converse, counter, counteractant, counteracting, counteractive, counterbalancing, counterpoised, countervailing, counterworking, cranky, cross, crotchety, dead against, despiteful, detrimental, differing, difficult, dim, disaccordant, disaffected, disagreeable, disagreeing, disapproving, discordant, discrepant, disenchanted, disharmonious, disinclined, displeased, disproportionate, dissentient, dissident, dissonant, divergent, dour, enemy, eyeball to eyeball, ferocious, fierce, fighting, fractious, full of fight, full of hate, grating, hard, harmful, hateful, hawkish, ill, immiscible, in opposition, inaccordant, incompatible, inconsistent, inharmonious, inhospitable, inimical, inverse, jangling, jarring, jingo, jingoish, jingoist, jingoistic, loath, malevolent, malicious, malignant, martial, militant, militaristic, military, miserable, negative, nonconformist, noncooperative, not charmed, not easy, obstinate, obverse, offensive, opponent, opposed, opposing, opposite, oppositional, oppositive, oppugnant, out of accord, out of whack, overthwart, perverse, pugnacious, put off, quarrelsome, rancorous, reactionary, recalcitrant, refractory, renitent, repugnant, resistant, reverse, revolutionary, rigorous, rival, saber-rattling, sanguinary, sanguineous, savage, scrappy, set against, sinister, soldierlike, soldierly, sore, sour, spiteful, squared off, stressful, trigger-happy, troublesome, troublous, truculent, trying, uncongenial, uncooperative, unfavorable, unfriendly, unharmonious, unpacific, unpeaceable, unpeaceful, unpropitious, unsympathetic, untoward, variant, venomous, virulent, vitriolic, warlike, warmongering, warring, wretched

ROGET THESAURUS

Hostile

Contrariety

N contrariety, contrast, foil, antithesis, oppositeness, contradiction, antagonism, clashing, repugnance, inversion, the opposite, the reverse, the inverse, the converse, the antipodes, the antithesis, the other extreme, contrary, contrarious, contrariant, opposite, counter, dead against, converse, reverse, opposed, antithetical, contrasted, antipodean, antagonistic, opposing, conflicting, inconsistent, contradictory, at cross purposes, negative, hostile, differing toto coelo, diametrically opposite, diametrically opposed, as opposite as black and white, as opposite as light and darkness, as opposite as fire and water, as opposite as the poles, as different as night and day, Hyperion to a satyr, quite the contrary, quite the reverse, no such thing, just the other way, tout au contraire, contrarily, contra, contrariwise, per contra, on the contrary, nay rather, vice versa, on the other hand, all concord's born of contraries, Thesis, antithesis, synthesis.

Disagreement

N disagreement, discord, discordance, dissonance, dissidence, discrepancy, unconformity, incongruity, incongruence, discongruity, mesalliance, jarring, dissension, conflict, bickering, clashing, misunderstanding, wrangle, disparity, mismatch, disproportion, dissimilitude, inequality, disproportionateness, variance, divergence, repugnance, unfitness, inaptitude, impropriety, inapplicability, inconsistency, inconcinnity, irrelevancy, misjoining, misjoinder, syncretism, intrusion, interference, concordia discors, fish out of water, disagreeing, discordant, discrepant, at variance, at war, hostile, antagonistic, repugnant, incompatible, irreconcilable, inconsistent with, unconformable, exceptional, intrusive, incongruous, disproportionate, disproportionated, inharmonious, unharmonious, inconsonant, unconsonant, divergent, repugnant to, inapt, unapt, inappropriate, improper, unsuited, unsuitable, inapplicable, not to the point, unfit, unfitting, unbefitting, unbecoming, illtimed, unseasonable, mal a propos, inadmissible, inapposite, uncongenial, ill-assorted, ill-sorted, mismatched, misjoined, misplaced, misclassified, unaccommodating, irreducible, incommensurable, uncommensurable, unsympathetic, out of character, out of keeping, out of proportion, out of joint, out of tune, out of place, out of season, out of its element, at odds with, at variance with, in defiance, in contempt, in spite of, discordantly, a tort et a travers, asinus ad lyram.

Opposition

N opposition, antagonism, oppugnancy, oppugnation, impugnation, contrariety, contravention, counteraction, counterplot, cross fire, undercurrent, head wind, clashing, collision, conflict, competition, two of a trade, rivalry, emulation, race, absence of aid, resistance, restraint, hindrance, opposing, opposed, adverse, antagonistic, contrary, at variance, at issue, at war with, unfavorable, unfriendly, hostile, inimical, cross, unpropitious, in hostile array, front to front, with crossed bayonets, at daggers drawn, up in arms, resistant, competitive, emulous, against, versus, counter to, in conflict with, at cross purposes, against the grain, against the current, against the stream, against the wind, against the tide, with a headwind, with the wind ahead, with the wind in one's teeth, in spite, in despite, in defiance, in the way, in the teeth of, in the face of, across, athwart, overthwart, where the shoe pinches, in spite of one's teeth, though, even, quand meme, per contra, nitor in adversum.

Enmity

N enmity, hostility, unfriendliness, discord, bitterness, rancor, alienation, estrangement, dislike, hate, heartburning, animosity, malevolence, inimical, unfriendly, hostile, at enmity, at variance, at daggers drawn, at open war with, up in arms against, in bad odor with, on bad terms, not on speaking terms, cool, cold, cold hearted, estranged, alienated, disaffected, irreconcilable.