ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsIinimical
ISEE/SSAThard
inimical
Meaning: harmful or hostile to something
inimical in a sentence
How inimical is used in real sentences:
The policy was inimical to small local businesses.
The drought was inimical to the survival of young trees.
“Meanwhile, an obdurate supervisor who had resisted every exception accepted the panel after seeing that unexplained discretion was inimical to public trust.”
— from the passage Waiting by Design
“Its rapacious owners treated every marsh acre as potential storage, while solvents inimical to eelgrass seeped steadily through cracked lagoons.”
— from the passage The Ninth Spring
“Such candor may be inimical to the critic's customary pose of authority, since admitting error weakens the illusion of unbroken judgment.”
— from the passage The Late Correction
Synonyms for inimical
Other words for inimical — hostile, harmful and adverse — carry the same meaning.
- hostile
- harmful
- adverse
Antonyms of inimical
Words that mean the opposite of inimical:
- helpful
- friendly
- beneficial
Where it comes from
From Latin inimicus, meaning 'enemy.'
Word parts
- in/im/ir — not, opposite
inimical: in- (not) + imic (friend)
Memory hook
INIMICAL contains 'enemy' in its history: an inimical force acts like an enemy.