warfare

noun

war·​fare ˈwȯr-ˌfer 

1

: military operations between enemies : hostilities, war

also : an activity undertaken by a political unit (such as a nation) to weaken or destroy another

economic warfare

2

: struggle between competing entities : conflict

see also biological warfare, chemical warfare, cyber warfare, germ warfare, trench warfare

Synonyms of warfare

• war
• strife
• discord
• conflict
• friction
• discordance
• discordancy
• schism
• dissent

Examples of warfare in a Sentence

that troubled household seems to be almost constantly in a state of warfare

companies engaged in constant warfare for dominance in the market for smart phones and tablets

Recent Examples on the Web

L3Harris’ Red Wolf systems will fill a gap in modern warfare with long-range precision weapons capabilities. —Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 1 Feb. 2026

Storylines like this, in our age of escalating eat-the-rich sentiment, allow viewers to vicariously enjoy beautiful homes and high-maintenance bodies while also fantasizing about (or, for more comfortable audiences, safely exploring fears of) class warfare. —Judy Berman, Time, 30 Jan. 2026

Optimized for long endurance missions with containerized payload integration, including electronic warfare, fires, C-C5ISRT (Counter-Command, Control, Computing, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting) and contested logistics. —Sabbir Rangwala, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026

But the country's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a news conference no talks between Tehran and Washington were currently planned and his country was ready for either negotiations or warfare. —Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 30 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from werre, warre war + fare journey, passage — more at fare

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing warfare

• biological warfare
• chemical warfare
• cyber warfare
• germ warfare
• psychological warfare
• trench warfare

Rhymes for warfare

• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare
• compare

Kids Definition

warfare

noun

war·​fare ˈwȯr-ˌfa(ə)r 

-ˌfe(ə)r

1

a

: military fighting between enemies : war

b

: activity undertaken by one country or group to weaken or destroy another

economic warfare

2

: a struggle between competitors : conflict

industrial warfare