- 1very unfriendly or aggressive and ready to argue or fight The speaker got a hostile reception from the audience. hostile to/towards somebody/something She was openly hostile towards her parents. Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsappear, be, feel, … adverbbitterly, decidedly, deeply, … prepositionto, towards/toward See full entry See related entries: Anger
- 2hostile (to something) strongly rejecting something synonym opposed hostile to the idea of change The proposals have provoked a hostile response from opposition parties. Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsappear, be, feel, … adverbbitterly, decidedly, deeply, … prepositionto, towards/toward See full entry
- 3making it difficult for something to happen or to be achieved hostile conditions for plants to grow in
- 4belonging to a military enemy hostile territory Wordfinderconflictaggression, arms, army, attack, casualty, conflict, defend, hostile, territory, war
- 5(business) (of an offer to buy a company, etc.) not wanted by the company that is to be bought a hostile takeover bid See related entries: Business deals Word Originlate 16th cent.: from French, or from Latin hostilis, from hostis ‘stranger, enemy’.Extra examples He was extremely hostile towards her. Many people were openly hostile to the idea. The audience gave him a downright hostile reception. The experience has made him generally hostile to women. The press became uniformly hostile to the new administration. They were reluctant to take any step that might be regarded as hostile. politically hostile newspapers Many of the employees were hostile to the idea of change. The speaker got a very hostile reception from the audience.
hostile
adjectiveBrE BrE//ˈhɒstaɪl//; NAmE NAmE//ˈhɑːstl//, NAmE//ˈhɑːstaɪl//
Business deals, AngerCheck pronunciation: hostile
