hostility Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a hostile (very unfriendly) disposition
    ill will.
    • he could not conceal his hostility
  2. noun a state of deep-seated ill-will
    enmity; antagonism.
  3. noun the feeling of a hostile person
    enmity; ill will.
    • he could no longer contain his hostility
  4. noun violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked
    aggression.

WordNet

Hos*til"i*ty noun
Etymology
L. hostilitas: cf. F. hostilité.
Wordforms
plural Hostilities
Definitions
  1. State of being hostile; public or private enemy; unfriendliness; animosity.
    Hostility being thus suspended with France. Hayward.
  2. An act of an open enemy; a hostile deed; especially in the plural, acts of warfare; attacks of an enemy.
    We have showed ourselves generous adversaries . . . and have carried on even our hostilities with humanity. Atterbury.
    He who proceeds to wanton hostility, often provokes an enemy where he might have a friend. Crabb.
    Syn. -- Animosity; enmity; opposition; violence; aggression; contention; warfare.

Webster 1913