Hostility

A persistent feeling of anger or resentment combined with a strong desire to express it or retaliate.

Hostility is a strong impulse inspired by feelings of anger or resentment. Though hostile impulses are normal , and everyone has them from time to time (for example, when frustrated, offended, or deprived of something), a hostile person feels those impulses regularly. She or he is always ready to take offense or feel frustrated in some way. This is often described as "having a chip on one's shoulder." Hostility can play a part in anxiety attacks, depression , compulsions, and paranoia . On a larger scale, hostility leads to violent crime, invasions, wars, and other acts of aggression .

Further Reading

Lerner, Harriet Goldhor. The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships. New York: Perennial Library, Harper & Row, 1989.

Williams, Redford, M.D., and Virginia Williams, Ph.D. Anger Kills: Seventeen Strategies for Controlling the Hostility that Can Harm Your Health. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993.

hos·til·i·ty / häˈstilitē/ • n. (pl. -ties) hostile behavior; unfriendliness or opposition: their hostility to all outsiders. ∎  (hostilities) acts of warfare: he called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.