conflict
/'kɔnflikt/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A serious disagreement or argument: A situation where people, groups, or ideas are in strong opposition to each other.
- A struggle or clash between opposing forces or characters: This is a key element in literature and drama that drives the plot.
- An incompatibility between two or more things: A situation where events, schedules, feelings, or facts cannot exist or be true at the same time.
- A state of active fighting between armed forces: A battle or war.
Verb:
- To be in opposition, disagreement, or incompatibility: To differ or be at odds so that both cannot exist, be true, or happen simultaneously.
- To clash or fight: To come into collision or opposition.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- There was a conflict between management and the union over wages. (A serious disagreement)
- The novel's main conflict is between good and evil. (A literary struggle)
- I have a scheduling conflict and cannot attend both meetings. (An incompatibility of events)
- The region has been devastated by armed conflict. (Active fighting)
Verb:
- His account of the event conflicts with hers. (Is incompatible with)
- The new policy conflicts with our core values. (Is in opposition to)
Advanced Usage
"Conflict of interest": A situation where a person's personal interests could improperly influence their professional duties or decisions.
- The judge recused herself due to a potential conflict of interest.
"Internal conflict": A psychological struggle within a character's mind or a person's own feelings.
- She felt an internal conflict between her career ambitions and her family responsibilities.
"To come into conflict": To begin to disagree or fight with someone or something.
- The two nations came into conflict over the border dispute.
Variants and Related Words
Conflicting (adj): Describing things that are in disagreement or opposition.
- We received conflicting advice from different experts.
Conflictual (adj): Characterized by or prone to conflict (less common).
- Non-conflict (n): A state or situation without conflict.
Synonyms
- Noun: Dispute, clash, struggle, confrontation, battle, warfare, discord, friction.
- Verb: Clash, disagree, differ, collide, contradict.
Related Phrasal Verbs / Constructions
- "Conflict with": To be incompatible or at odds with something.
- The witness's testimony conflicted with the physical evidence.
Related Idioms
"A conflict of loyalties": A difficult situation where one feels pulled between two opposing duties or commitments.
- Working for a competitor created a conflict of loyalties for him.
"To be in conflict": To be actively disagreeing or fighting.
- The two theories have been in conflict for decades.
Noun
- a disagreement or argument about something important
- he had a dispute with his wife
- there were irreconcilable differences
- the familiar conflict between Republicans and Democrats
- opposition in a work of drama or fiction between characters or forces (especially an opposition that motivates the development of the plot)
- this form of conflict is essential to Mann's writing
- an incompatibility of dates or events
- he noticed a conflict in the dates of the two meetings
- a state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests
- his conflict of interest made him ineligible for the post
- a conflict of loyalties
- a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war
- Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of Chickamauga
- he lost his romantic ideas about war when he got into a real engagement
- opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible feelings
- he was immobilized by conflict and indecision
- an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals)
- the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph--Thomas Paine
- police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs
Verb
- go against, as of rules and laws
- He ran afoul of the law
- This behavior conflicts with our rules
- be in conflict
- The two proposals conflict!