hostility
/hɑˈstɪlɪti/noun
hostility is spelled H-O-S-T-I-L-I-T-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hostility means “The state of being hostile” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hostility is hostilities.
How many letters and syllables are in hostility?
| Letters | 9: H-O-S-T-I-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.1 times per million words; the 12,764th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hostility?
Hostility appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th 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 hostility?
- UK /hɒsˈtɪlɪti/
- US /hɑˈstɪlɪti/
- US [hɑˈstɪlɪɾi]
Hostility has 4 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-hostility.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hostility?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hostility from its last stressed vowel (/ɪlɪti/):
- availability
- mobility
- flexibility
- visibility
- profitability
- nobility
- viability
- versatility
- solubility
- permeability
- mutability
- servility
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 hostility
- hostilities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hostility mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state of being hostile.
My resentment and anger towards you caused hostility and a division between us.
- 2
A hostile action, especially a military action. See hostilities for specific plural definition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hostility in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense state of being hostile:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hostilité |
| German | Feindseligkeit, Feindschaft |
| Portuguese | hostilidade |
| Spanish | hostilidad |
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 hostility come from?
From Middle English hostilitie, hostilite, from Old French hostilité, from Latin hostīlitās. By surface analysis, hostile + -ity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).