How to Use hostility in a Sentence

hostility

noun
  • Both sides are calling for a cessation of hostilities.
  • They were both glad to have gotten through the divorce proceedings without any visible signs of hostility.
  • The townspeople showed open hostility to outsiders.
  • Peace talks were stalled after recent hostilities.
  • In the end, the hostility between them was in the past.
    — Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2022
  • On this day in 1918: An armistice was signed to halt the hostilities of World War I.
    — Mark Jones, The Arizona Republic, 11 Nov. 2024
  • Here’s a look at the terms of the cease-fire and its prospects for ending hostilities over the long term.
    — Abby Sewell and Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2025
  • The hostilities halted in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
    — Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 20 May 2024
  • Not that all of them would be [successful] in it, but at least the type of hostility we were met by was not their fate.
    — Selome Hailu, Variety, 18 Feb. 2022
  • In the face of racial hostility in the past, silence kept the community alive.
    — Xander Peters, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 July 2022
  • But on talk shows and in chat rooms the grievances and hostilities that have led the nation to this point were not quieted.
    — Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2024
  • Still, many experts assume that at some point at least some form of pause in hostilities will come.
    — Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Nov. 2023
  • That leads to the sports equivalent of road rage, where fans take out their hostility on the nearest target.
    — Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2022
  • Her dogma is: The bigger your fabulous gets, the less room there is for hate and hostility.
    — Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, 29 June 2023
  • Obviously, as time has gone on, the hostilities have opened up to more places.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
  • Ryan and Eric feel no hostility at Progressive Field when the Twins come to town.
    — cleveland, 22 Jan. 2023
  • There's more hostility since the Dobbs decision, in her view.
    — USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2024
  • This is not the first time that Britain’s clubby media world has shown hostility to outsiders.
    — Mark Landler, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024
  • The United States has presented a cease-fire plan that would have Hamas release the hostages in Gaza in exchange for a pause in hostilities.
    — Miriam Berger, Washington Post, 18 June 2024
  • Because Poland has also shown some hostility to the E.U., and some of the same right-wing social values that Putin has expressed.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2022
  • There are always one or two nice colleagues, but there is also a mass vibe of hostility.
    — Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 19 Sep. 2022
  • But more than anything else, growing hostilities with the United States have set the region on edge.
    — Damien Cave Chang W. Lee, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2023
  • Instead of confronting the man’s hostility, Franklin asked to borrow a rare book from his library.
    — Michael Sheldrick, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2025
  • The plan to end hostilities hinges on Hezbollah moving its fighters from the border.
    — Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 28 June 2024
  • My friends and partner don’t have to be meme-share level soulmates, but active hostility would be hard to live with.
    — Karley Sciortino, Vogue, 23 Feb. 2022
  • Even small shifts can build rapport and defuse hostility.
    — Diana Lowe, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
  • In the past, Helton said, attempts at change have led to hostility and division.
    — Grant Lancaster, Arkansas Online, 23 Jan. 2023
  • But over the last five months, this long-standing hostility has been upended.
    — Jamsheed K. Choksy, Foreign Affairs, 20 July 2023
  • The crucial question, though, is whether this creeping ceasefire is the start of a real peace process that may develop into an actual cessation of hostilities and even a lasting peace in Ukraine.
    — Matthew Chance, CNN, 25 Mar. 2025
  • Despite the rising hostility, the Ukrainian-American community has rallied together and stood strong.
    — Ella Polak, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hostility.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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