hostility
/hɒˈstɪlɪti/
"hostility" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hostility” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,790 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,790
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state of being hostile.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hostility |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /hɒˈstɪlɪti/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #12,790 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hostility” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hostility is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɒˈstɪlɪti/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,790 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for hostility, with forms such as "hhostility", "hositlity", and "hosstility". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hostilitie, hostilite, from Old French hostilité, from Latin hostīlitās. By surface analysis, hostile + -ity. The correct English form is hostility, spelled H-O-S-T-I-L-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1The state of being hostile.
- 2A hostile action, especially a military action. See hostilities for specific plural definition.
Etymology
From Middle English hostilitie, hostilite, from Old French hostilité, from Latin hostīlitās. By surface analysis, hostile + -ity.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hhostility,hositlity,hosstility,hostiilty,hostilitty,hostilityy,hostiliyt,hostillity,hostiltiy,hostliity,hosttility,hotsility,hsotility,ohstility
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hostility - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "hostility"?
What does "hostility" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “hostility”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-O-S-T-I-L-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /hɒˈstɪlɪti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.