inhospitable

/in'hɔspitəbl/

Thân thiện

The barren desert is an inhospitable environment for most plants.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Not welcoming or friendly to guests or strangers: Describes a person, place, or environment that does not offer a warm, generous, or friendly reception.
   • Unfavorable to life or growth; providing no shelter or sustenance: Describes a climate, region, or environment that is barren, harsh, and difficult to live in or survive.

Usage Examples

• Describing an unwelcoming person or atmosphere:
  • The innkeeper was rude and inhospitable, refusing to offer us even a glass of water.
  • We felt uncomfortable in the cold and inhospitable silence of the room.
• Describing an unfavorable environment:
  • Few plants can survive in the inhospitable conditions of the Arctic tundra.
  • The rocky, inhospitable coastline offered no safe harbor for the ship.

Advanced Usage

• "inhospitable to": Used to indicate that an environment or situation is unfavorable for a specific thing.
  • The political climate became increasingly inhospitable to free speech.
  • The soil is too acidic and inhospitable to most vegetables.

Variants and Related Words

• Inhospitably (adverb): In an unwelcoming or unfriendly manner.
  • They were treated inhospitably by the local officials.
• Inhospitableness (noun): The quality or state of being inhospitable.
  • The inhospitableness of the terrain made the expedition very difficult.

Synonyms

• Unwelcoming: Not giving a friendly or pleasant reception.
• Unfriendly: Not kind or pleasant.
• Barren: Too poor to produce much or any vegetation; infertile.
• Hostile (of environments): Harsh and difficult to live in.

Antonyms

• Hospitable: Friendly and welcoming to guests or strangers; (of an environment) having a favorable climate for life.
• Welcoming: Behaving in a friendly way to someone arriving.
• Fertile: (Of soil or land) producing or capable of producing abundant vegetation or crops.

Related Phrases and Concepts

• Inhospitable climate: A climate that is extremely difficult to live in due to temperature, aridity, or other severe conditions.
  • The explorers were unprepared for the inhospitable climate of the high mountains.
• Socially inhospitable: Describing a group or situation that is not open or welcoming to outsiders or new ideas.
  • The corporate culture was socially inhospitable to unconventional thinking.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. not hospitable
   • they are extremely inhospitable these days
   • her greeting was cold and inhospitable
2. unfavorable to life or growth
   • the barren inhospitable desert
   • inhospitable mountain areas