Words / C2

i-NIM-ikl/ɪˈnɪmɪkl/

Inimical means hostile or actively bad for something: a climate inimical to debate. Formal writers choose it instead of bad for when the relationship is one of opposition. In speech say hostile to or bad for; inimical is legal and literary.

Meaning

Harmful or unfriendly toward something.

Examples

• “Noise is inimical to deep reading.”
• “Secrecy is inimical to public trust.”
• “The soil is inimical to most crops.”

Good to know

inimical to + noun. Everyday: hostile to / bad for.

Near in meaning

hostile

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