How to Use hostile in a Sentence

hostile

adjective
  • It was a small town that was hostile to outsiders.
  • The camel is specially adapted to its hostile desert habitat.
  • Her suggestions were given a hostile reception.
  • They were entering hostile territory.
  • Overnight, her once warm, cozy street felt harsh and hostile.
    — Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2026
  • The 15-year-old is surly and hostile.
    — Joan MacDonald, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Boycotting this event would be a hostile move.
    — Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 24 Feb. 2026
  • And, as is often the case, some of those ads have been hostile.
    — Trisha Thadani, SFChronicle.com, 2 Nov. 2020
  • Martell said the tone wasn’t hostile, just detached.
    — Will Ripley, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Roberts made a hostile bid for Disney years ago and lost.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2025
  • They have been sent here by the hostile Maduro regime in Venezuela.
    — Nicole Brown Chau, CBS News, 26 Mar. 2025
  • The enforcers see me and now come at me with what looks like hostile intent.
    — U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Overall, this town is hostile to people who aren’t from here.
    — Julian Baron, Baltimore Sun, 28 May 2026
  • The voice might be drunk, or belligerent, or hostile, or afraid of the dark.
    — Literary Hub, 18 Feb. 2026
  • This need not be accusatory or hostile.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Lula will also have to work with a much more hostile congress.
    — Ian Bremmer, Time, 7 Nov. 2022
  • There is overwhelming chaos in the universe, and our part in it is hostile.
    — Roberto Brunelli, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Oct. 2023
  • But many of the callers were hostile and confused, Rose said.
    — Washington Post, 4 Jan. 2021
  • To feel the force and menace of a hostile enemy?
    — Kostya Kennedy, Time, 16 Feb. 2026
  • Officials said the crash was not due to hostile or friendly fire.
    — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 14 Mar. 2026
  • If Comcast does make a hostile bid for Fox, there will be irony in it.
    — The Economist, 17 Feb. 2018
  • And videos started pouring in showing just how messy and hostile the surge was.
    — Eric Roper, Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2026
  • And then to see our nation's capitol being stormed by hostile forces.
    — NBC News, 21 Mar. 2021
  • My manager, the person who hired me, was hostile and rude to me three times in one day.
    — Roxane Gay, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2021
  • If the address feels even slightly off, treat the message as hostile.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Kuwait said its air defenses had dealt with hostile drones that entered its airspace.
    — James Powel, USA Today, 11 May 2026
  • The atmosphere is a hostile place for a microbe.
    — Katherine Bourzac, Quanta Magazine, 15 Sep. 2025
  • The company’s hostile bid is still on the table.
    — Michelle Chapman, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
  • But their art was was made in a time when the world was even more hostile to female artists or female genius.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 14 May 2021
  • Paramount has launched a hostile bid for WBD.
    — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 17 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hostile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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