war

1 a state of armed violent struggle between states, nations, or groups <the war was the result of ethnic tensions that had been building in the region for decades> Synonyms conflagration, conflict, hostilities, hot war Related Words civil war, cold war, holy war, limited war, police action, world war; action, battle, engagement, skirmish; combat, fighting, warfare Near Antonyms demilitarization, demobilization, disarmament; pacification; cease-fire, truce; calm, peacefulness, tranquillity (or tranquility) Antonyms peace

2 a lack of agreement or harmony <the siblings always seemed to be at war with one another> Synonyms conflict, disaccord, discordance, discordancy, disharmony, dissension (also dissention), dissent, dissidence, dissonance, disunion, disunity, division, friction, infighting, inharmony, schism, strife, variance, discord, warfareRelated Words clash, collision, competition, contention; altercation, argument, bicker, brawl, debate, disagreement, dispute, divide, fissure; falling-out, fight, hassle, jar, miff, mix-up, quarrel, row, run-in, scrap, spat, squabble, tiff, wrangle; incompatibility, incongruence, incongruity, incongruousness, inconsistence, inconsistency, inconsonance, inharmoniousness; animosity, antagonism, antipathy, cold war, enmity, hostility, ill will, rancorNear Antonyms concurrence, cooperationAntonyms accord, agreement, concord, concordance, harmony, peace

3 an earnest effort for superiority or victory over another <only the latest round in the never-ending class war> Synonyms ball game, battle, combat, competition, conflict, confrontation, contention, dogfight, duel, face-off, grapple, match, rivalry, strife, struggle, sweepstakes (also sweep-stake), tug-of-war, contest, warfareRelated Words horse race, nail-biter; showdown; clash, collision, discord, friction; argument, controversy, debate, disagreement, disputation, dispute, dissension (also dissention), quarrel, row, wrangleNear Antonyms concord, harmony, peace