inimical

UK/ɪˈnɪ.mɪ.kəl/US/ɪˈnɪ.mɪ.kəl/

adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,755 of 15,258leans written

Inimical means hostile, or harmful to something. Inimical to growth, an inimical climate.

It is used more of conditions than of people, and it is a formal word. Something inimical to a plan does not oppose it so much as make it impossible.

Definitions of inimical

1adjectiveinimicalHostile, or harmful to something.C2
“The rules were inimical to anything anybody wanted to do.”

inimical is a quality.

Where it comes from

Late Latin inimicalis, from inimicus, an enemy, which is in-, not, plus amicus, a friend.

Latin
inimīcālis — hostile
English, today
inimical

Built from

inimīcus · Latin — enemy
in- · Latin — not
amīcus · Latin — friend

From Late Latin inimīcālis (“hostile”), from inimīcus (“enemy”) (from in- (“not”) + amīcus (“friend”)) + -ālis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

inimical in the wild

Some felt the existing form of democracy, with its emphasis on parties of the "left and right", to be inimical to genuine representation of the people.
Douglas Credit Party
Having destroyed four inimical karmas, they realize pure self.
Arihant (Jainism)
The two brothers were so inimical towards each other that they began fighting while still in their mother's womb, just like Proetus and Acrisius did.
Panopeus (mythology)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the amīcus family

enemy

inimical — used about once every 81,824 pages · #14,755 · point at the bar for the others

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