hostile

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French hostile, from Latin hostīlis, from hostis (“enemy”). Displaced Old English fēondlīċ.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒstaɪl/, /ˈhɒstəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑstəl/, /ˈhɑstaɪl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: hostel (one pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -ɒstəl

Adjective

hostile (comparative more hostile, superlative most hostile)

1. Not friendly; appropriate to an enemy; showing the disposition of an enemy; showing ill will and malevolence or a desire to thwart and injure.

   Synonyms: inimical, unfriendly

   a hostile force

   hostile intentions

   a hostile country

   hostile to a sudden change

2. Aggressive, antagonistic.
3. Unwilling
4. Of a hostile takeover.

   Microsoft may go hostile in its bid for Yahoo as soon as Friday, according to a published report.

Synonyms

• antagonistic
• hateful
• See also Thesaurus:hostile

Antonyms

• friendly

Related terms

• hostility
• hostilely
• host
• See also Thesaurus:combative

Translations

belonging or appropriate to an enemy

• Albanian: armiqësor (sq)
• Arabic: عَدَائِيّ‎‎ (ʿadāʾiyy)
• Belarusian: варо́жы (varóžy), во́ражы (vóražy)
• Bulgarian: вра́жески (bg) (vrážeski), неприя́телски (bg) (neprijátelski), вражде́бен (bg) (vraždében)
• Catalan: hostil
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 敵對的, 敌对的 (díduì de), 懷敵意的, 怀敌意的 (huái díyì de)

• Czech: nepřátelský (cs) m
• Dutch: vijandig (nl)
• Esperanto: malamika
• Finnish: vihamielinen (fi)
• French: hostile (fr)
• German: feindlich (de), feindselig (de)
• Greek: εχθρικός (el) m (echthrikós), (Epic) δάϊος (dáïos)

  Ancient: πολέμιος (polémios)

• Hungarian: ellenséges (hu)
• Japanese: 敵の (ja) (かたきの, kataki no,てきの, teki no), 敵対的な (てきたいてきな, tekitaiteki na)
• Kazakh: ғадауатты (ğadawattı)
• Korean: 적대적인 (jeokdaejeog-in)
• Latin: hostilis (la), alienus (la)

• Macedonian: непријателски (neprijatelski)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fiendtlig

  Nynorsk: fiendtleg

• Occitan: ostil (oc)
• Old English: fēondlīċ
• Plautdietsch: fientlich
• Polish: wrogi (pl) m
• Portuguese: hostil (pt)
• Quechua: awqa (qu)
• Romanian: ostil (ro) m or n
• Russian: вражде́бный (ru) (vraždébnyj), вра́жеский (ru) (vrážeskij) (belonging to an enemy), неприя́тельский (ru) (neprijátelʹskij)
• Scottish Gaelic: nàimhdeach, nàimhdeil, eucairdeach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: непријатѐљскӣ

  Roman: neprijatèljskī (sh)

• Slovak: nepriateľský
• Slovene: sovražen
• Spanish: hostil (es)
• Swedish: fientlig (sv)
• Ukrainian: воро́жий (voróžyj)

antagonistic

• Belarusian: варо́жы (varóžy)
• Bulgarian: вражде́бен (bg) (vraždében)
• Esperanto: malamika, malamikema
• German: gegnerisch (de), unversöhnlich (de), antagonistisch (de), giftig (de) (coll.)
• Greek: εχθρικός (el) (echthrikós)

  Ancient: ἐχθρός (ekhthrós), δυσμενής (dusmenḗs), ἀνάρσιος (anársios)

• Japanese: 敵対的 (てきたいてき, tekitaiteki)

• Latin: infestus
• Maori: taraweti
• Old English: fēondlīċ
• Plautdietsch: fientlich
• Russian: вражде́бный (ru) (vraždébnyj)
• Tocharian B: erkatte
• Ukrainian: воро́жий (voróžyj)

Noun

hostile (plural hostiles)

1. (chiefly in the plural) An enemy.

Translations

an enemy

• Albanian: armiqësor (sq)
• Bulgarian: враг (bg) m (vrag)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 敵人 (zh), 敌人 (zh) (dírén)

• German: Gegner (de) m, Feind (de) m

• Greek: εχθρός (el) m (echthrós)
• Japanese: 敵 (ja) (てき, teki)
• Old Turkic: 𐰖𐰍𐰃‎ (yaɣï)

Anagrams

• Elohist, eoliths, holiest, sholtie

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French

Etymology

From Middle French hostile, hostif (this form with a change of suffix), borrowed from Latin hostilis.

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /ɔs.til/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

hostile (plural hostiles)

1. hostile
2. unfriendly

Synonyms

• ennemi

Related terms

• hostilité
• ost

Further reading

• “hostile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Latin

Adjective

hostīle

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of hostīlis

References

• hostile in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)