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