internecine

adjective in·ter·ne·cine \ ˌin-tər-ˈne-ˌsēn , -ˈnē-sᵊn , -ˈnē-ˌsīn , -nə-ˈsēn ; in-ˈtər-nə-ˌsēn \

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Examples: internecine in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of internecine

1 : marked by slaughter : deadly; especially : mutually destructive

2 : of, relating to, or involving conflict within a group

bitter internecine feuds

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Examples of internecine in a Sentence

a political party that has suffered because of bitter internecine rivalries

Recent Examples of internecine from the Web

With the rise of populist movements in the U.S. and Europe, a kind of internecine warfare has broken out among writers and thinkers of a conservative cast of mind.

— richard aldous, WSJ, "‘Conservativism’ Review: Holding On to the Good Things," 14 June 2018
But in the post-equality era, the play stands as a compelling portrayal of internecine savagery bred by the stigma of isolation and oppression, by turns bitingly funny and moving.

— david rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, "'The Boys in the Band': Theater Review," 1 June 2018
Fascinated by families, interested in internecine squabbles, and always driven by the whims of its matriarch, Falcon Crest sounds a lot more like Pose than Dynasty does.

— todd vanderwerff, Vox, "FX’s Pose turns ’80s gay and trans culture into a heartfelt celebration of found families," 1 June 2018
Every family has its unsavory secrets and internecine squabbles, of course.

— sarah lyall, BostonGlobe.com, "For Meghan Markle’s American family, a relentless UK glare," 16 May 2018
Its message, as the shadow of terrorism encroaches: while an internecine war raged in the halls of power, Americans were on their own.

— daniel d'addario, Time, "The Looming Tower Tells a Darkly Ironic Story About the Pre-9/11 Years," 28 Feb. 2018
These are the types of internecine battles that could trip up Democrats’ march to the majority.

— liz goodwin, BostonGlobe.com, "Nancy Pelosi says she intends to remain in leadership role," 1 May 2018
This vacuum has, as is often the case with this White House, triggered fierce internecine scrapping among those vying for Trump's ear.

— Anchorage Daily News, "Trump dismisses midterm threat, alarming GOP," 28 Apr. 2018
Some House Republicans have grumbled that Ryan should step down now, to avoid a six-month internecine battle to replace him, according to a Politico story.

— deirdre shesgreen, USA TODAY, "Paul Ryan says GOP needs him to remain as speaker because he's such a good fundraiser," 12 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'internecine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Internecine comes from the Latin internecinus ("fought to the death" or "destructive"), which traces to the verb "necare" ("to kill") and the prefix inter-. ("Inter-" usually means "between" or "mutual" in Latin, but it can also indicate the completion of an action.) Internecine meant "deadly" when it appeared in English in 1663, but when Samuel Johnson entered it in his dictionary almost a century later, he was apparently misled by "inter-" and defined the word as "endeavouring mutual destruction." Johnson's definition was carried into later dictionaries, and before long his sense was the dominant meaning of the word. "Internecine" developed the association with internal group conflict in the 20th century, and that's the most common sense today.