Words / C1

HOST-yl/ˈhɒstaɪl/

Hostile means unfriendly, aggressive, or strongly opposed: a hostile question, hostile to the plan. Unfriendly is everyday; hostility (below in spirit) is the noun. Hostel (already in the dictionary) is cheap lodging. Hostile takeover is business English. Do not call a fair hard question hostile just because it stung.

Meaning

Unfriendly and aggressive; strongly opposed.

Examples

• “A hostile question is still a question; shout it down and you lose the minute.”
• “A hostile amendment tried to kill the night-bus subsidy in one vote.”
• “Unfriendly is milder; hostile is opposition with an edge. Mix-up: hostel (lodging).”

Good to know

Unfriendly / opposed. Noun: hostility. Everyday: unfriendly. Mix-up: hostel. A hard fair question is not automatically hostile.

Near in meaning

unfriendly

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