hostile
/ˈhɑstəl/adjective, noun
hostile is spelled H-O-S-T-I-L-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “hostel vs hostile” about 50 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, hostile means “Not friendly; appropriate to an enemy; showing the disposition of an enemy; showing ill will and malevolence or a desire to thwart and injure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hostile?
| Letters | 7: H-O-S-T-I-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hostile?
Hostile appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hostile?
- UK /ˈhɒstaɪl/
- UK /ˈhɒstəl/
- US /ˈhɑstəl/
Hostile has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hostile.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with hostile
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: hostel (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with hostile?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hostile from its last stressed vowel (/ɑstəl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of hostile
- more hostile comparative
- most hostile superlative
- hostiles plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hostile mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Not friendly; appropriate to an enemy; showing the disposition of an enemy; showing ill will and malevolence or a desire to thwart and injure.
a hostile force
- 2
Aggressive; antagonistic.
- 3
Unwilling.
- 4
Being or relating to a hostile takeover.
Microsoft may go hostile in its bid for Yahoo! as soon as Friday, according to a published report.
noun
- 1
An enemy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hostile in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hostile |
| German | feindlich, feindselig , gegnerisch, unversöhnlich, antagonistisch, giftig |
| Portuguese | hostil |
| Spanish | hostil |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hostile come from?
Borrowed from Middle French hostile, from Latin hostīlis, from hostis (“enemy”). Displaced Old English fēondlīċ.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).