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say it: HAH-stuhl
hostile is an adjective and noun meaning "characterized by enmity or ill will". It is pronounced /ˈhɑstəl/ — HAH-stuhl. It carries 6 recorded senses.
characterized by enmity or ill will
“a hostile nation”
“a hostile remark”
“hostile actions”
not belonging to your own country's forces or those of an ally
“hostile naval and air forces”
very unfavorable to life or growth
“a hostile climate”
“an uncongenial atmosphere”
“an uncongenial soil”
“the unfriendly environment at high altitudes”
unsolicited and resisted by the management of the target company (used of attempts to buy or take control of a business)
“hostile takeover”
“hostile tender offer”
“hostile bid”
commercial enterprise
troops belonging to the enemy's military forces
“the platoon ran into a pack of hostiles”
military
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for hostile come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.