as in war
a state of armed violent struggle between states, nations, or groups
Both sides agreed to cease all hostilities.
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Recent Examples of hostilities
Trump will need to hope for hostilities to be short-lasting, or for these voters to be forgiving.
—
Javier Corrales, Time, 27 Oct. 2025
Analysts say his intervention stopped escalating hostilities, though tensions persist in what remains a fragile, ongoing cold conflict between the longtime regional rivals.
—Amanda Greenwood, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
Their guerrilla tactics were effective, and in 1533 the Spanish signed a treaty with their chief leader, Enriquillo, that ended hostilities in exchange for land and freedom.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
In an escalation of hostilities against Venezuela, the Department of Defense has recently moved some ten thousand troops into the region, mostly to former military bases in Puerto Rico.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
The end of hostilities could also revive deals like a joint venture between BP and Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, which had been paused during the war.
—Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 14 Oct. 2025
The alliance should also increase its training with an eye toward degrading or destroying the Kaliningrad facilities should direct hostilities break out.
—James Stavridis, Twin Cities, 13 Oct. 2025
Now, hostilities appear to be returning to full boil.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2025
The Syrian leadership’s challenge going forward After years of war and fragmentation, most Syrians will take any cessation of hostilities with Israel as a welcome development – but not at any cost.
—Mireille Rebeiz, The Conversation, 9 Oct. 2025
Javier Corrales, Time, 27 Oct. 2025
Analysts say his intervention stopped escalating hostilities, though tensions persist in what remains a fragile, ongoing cold conflict between the longtime regional rivals.
—Amanda Greenwood, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
Their guerrilla tactics were effective, and in 1533 the Spanish signed a treaty with their chief leader, Enriquillo, that ended hostilities in exchange for land and freedom.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025
In an escalation of hostilities against Venezuela, the Department of Defense has recently moved some ten thousand troops into the region, mostly to former military bases in Puerto Rico.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
The end of hostilities could also revive deals like a joint venture between BP and Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, which had been paused during the war.
—Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 14 Oct. 2025
The alliance should also increase its training with an eye toward degrading or destroying the Kaliningrad facilities should direct hostilities break out.
—James Stavridis, Twin Cities, 13 Oct. 2025
Now, hostilities appear to be returning to full boil.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2025
The Syrian leadership’s challenge going forward After years of war and fragmentation, most Syrians will take any cessation of hostilities with Israel as a welcome development – but not at any cost.
—Mireille Rebeiz, The Conversation, 9 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hostilities
Noun
-
Rogers noted that the book argues that a central cause of the war was Anglo settlers’ determination to keep slaves in bondage after Mexico largely abolished it.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
25 Oct. 2025
-
In the five years just before war set in, these were among the dwellings that had beguiled Heinz Gaube (1940–2022), a German academic at the Oriental Seminar of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The Raptors also played the Bucks, a 122-116 loss, with the home team bumping the game’s start time up by an hour to minimize the conflict between the two games.—
Eric Koreen,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
-
That is, some of the properties suffered damage during the war, but others were destroyed because the owners left the country during the conflict.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hostilities.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hostilities. Accessed 1 Nov. 2025.
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