enmity

American  

[en-mi-tee] / ˈɛn mɪ ti /

noun

plural

enmities

1. a feeling or condition of hostility; hatred; ill will; animosity; antagonism.

   Synonyms:

   rancor, acrimony, malice

2. (in a video game) the targeting for attack of a player character by an enemy, and the circumstance-specific strength of that targeting for any particular character; hate; aggro: Use the character’s ranged attack to get enmity.

   Your tank needs to be spamming “Provoke” at that mob to increase his enmity, or else it’s going to turn and target your mages.

   Use the character’s ranged attack to get enmity.

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enmity British  

/ ˈɛnmɪtɪ /

noun

1. a feeling of hostility or ill will, as between enemies; antagonism

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Etymology

Origin of enmity

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English enemite, enmite, from Old French enemi(s)tie, from unattested Vulgar Latin inimīcitāt- (stem of inimīcitās ), equivalent to Latin inimīc(us) “(personal ) enemy” + -itāt- abstract noun suffix; enemy, -ity

Example Sentences

“The real evils in war,” St. Augustine once wrote, are “love of violence, revengeful cruelty, fierce and implacable enmity, wild resistance, and the lust of power.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Burundi has been a natural ally of DR Congo for years because of its enmity with Rwanda.

From BBC

For that matter, his parasitic or symbiotic relationship with Jeffrey Epstein has been a matter of public record since at least 2003, when the Harvard Crimson earned his eternal enmity by reporting on it.

From Salon

This is an opportunity to reverse seven decades of enmity.

From The Wall Street Journal

While the two men's enmity was never completely hidden, Newsom at least appeared to try a bipartisan hug that would keep the mercurial president involved in the costly recovery.

From Barron's

Related Words

• acrimony
• alienation
• animosity
• animus
• antagonism
• antipathy
• bad blood
• bitterness
• dislike
• hatred
• hostility
• ill will
• loathing
• malice
• rancor