1
as in hostilities
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 & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in conflicts
a lack of agreement or harmony
the siblings always seemed to be at war with one another
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in rivalries
an earnest effort for superiority or victory over another
only the latest round in the never-ending class war
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wars
Jon Medved, semafor.com, 7 Nov. 2025
Fossil fuel production is still increasing, driving up planet-warming pollution; the United States is in climate denial mode; and turbulent geopolitics have pushed the climate crisis down the agenda and into the culture wars.
—Ella Nilsen, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
International relationships, meanwhile, are strained by wars, trade battles and deep disagreement over the future direction of the energy economy.
—Jeff Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025
Hence, the next wars will be fought across physics and code.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 6 Nov. 2025
Americans would have to fight in some of these wars.
—Joey Garrison, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
In 1954, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day to honor American veterans of all wars.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Nov. 2025
Hannity recalls visiting Walter Reed Medical Center with former Fox News host Oliver North during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, visiting troops suffering from injuries sustained in battle.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 5 Nov. 2025
Over the course of human evolution, there were pandemics, there were wars, but people didn't die from Alzheimer's disease or diabetes or heart disease.
—Dominique Mosbergen, Time, 31 Oct. 2025
Noun
Germany and France fought centuries of bloody wars before becoming the bedrock of the European Union.
—Jon Medved, semafor.com, 7 Nov. 2025
Fossil fuel production is still increasing, driving up planet-warming pollution; the United States is in climate denial mode; and turbulent geopolitics have pushed the climate crisis down the agenda and into the culture wars.
—Ella Nilsen, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
International relationships, meanwhile, are strained by wars, trade battles and deep disagreement over the future direction of the energy economy.
—Jeff Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025
Hence, the next wars will be fought across physics and code.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 6 Nov. 2025
Americans would have to fight in some of these wars.
—Joey Garrison, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
In 1954, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day to honor American veterans of all wars.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Nov. 2025
Hannity recalls visiting Walter Reed Medical Center with former Fox News host Oliver North during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, visiting troops suffering from injuries sustained in battle.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 5 Nov. 2025
Over the course of human evolution, there were pandemics, there were wars, but people didn't die from Alzheimer's disease or diabetes or heart disease.
—Dominique Mosbergen, Time, 31 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wars
Noun
-
What Happens Next The current lull in hostilities may be more strategic than permanent, offering a brief window for both sides to reassess and recalibrate.—
Amir Daftari,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
-
One can be sure that the utility of having hostilities with Venezuela for this case is not lost on the administration.—
David Smilde,
Time,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Some of those territories were invaded with the tacit support of Western allies keen to prop up an anti-communist leader, at a time when proxy conflicts backed by the US and the Soviet Union raged across the Global South.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
11 Nov. 2025
-
These two conflicts heat up very quickly, with Dale plunging his elbow into the soup and then getting in Ron’s face, telling him to kiss it.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Few crosstown rivalries can compare to the one Hingham and Notre Dame Academy have developed the past few decades.—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
8 Nov. 2025
-
The history of contemporary music is littered with hundreds of rivalries both amicable and otherwise.—
Jason Newman,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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But soon, an intruder introduces both suspicion and hope for connection, as loneliness battles with the fear that something considerably larger than a virus is hiding in the dark.—
Dennis Perkins,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Per Pete Thamel of ESPN, the Red Raiders will ask redshirt freshman Will Hammond to make his first career start on Saturday as senior quarterback Behren Morton battles a leg injury.—
Jordan Sigler,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
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If Beijing now doubles down on subsidizing both cutting-edge and traditional industries, the result could be an even greater glut of Chinese products globally, exacerbating trade frictions.—
Shaoyu Yuan,
The Conversation,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The measures were greeted with relief by many in the global business community, which for months has been ensnared in the uncertainty of up-and-down economic frictions between the world’s two largest economies.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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But behind closed doors, the then-couple were facing marital struggles, as Betty claimed in her 2015 memoir, Telling On Myself.—
Jordana Comiter,
PEOPLE,
9 Nov. 2025
-
The struggles of being a parent and the struggles of your child are so understandably private.—
Rosemary Rossi,
Variety,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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And the action ranges from dueling card tricks to the kind of honest-to-God fights that merely serve to remind us that balletic action films really are magic tricks.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
11 Nov. 2025
-
The movie, about a pop girl group called HUNTR/X that fights demons, was a smash hit.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
11 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Your dedicated Slack channels, private discords and endless Reddit threads.—
April Uchitel,
Flow Space,
6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wars.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wars. Accessed 21 Nov. 2025.
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