Inimical

/ɪˈnɪmɪkl/
adjective

Harmful or unfriendly.

Smoking is inimical to health.
Visual representation of "inimical" - Harmful or unfriendly.

Often appears as...

  • inimical to health
  • inimical consequences

Usage tips

Formal, Disapproving

adjective

Not friendly or obstructing growth.

Your negative attitude is inimical to our team's progress.
Visual representation of "inimical" - Not friendly or obstructing growth.

Often appears as...

  • inimical policies
  • inimical behavior

Usage tips

Formal, Disapproving

Academic

adjective

Harmful or unfriendly.

Smoking is inimical to health.
Visual representation of "inimical" - Harmful or unfriendly.

Often appears as...

  • inimical to health
  • inimical consequences

Usage tips

Formal, Disapproving

adjective

Not friendly or obstructing growth.

Your negative attitude is inimical to our team's progress.
Visual representation of "inimical" - Not friendly or obstructing growth.

Often appears as...

  • inimical policies
  • inimical behavior

Usage tips

Formal, Disapproving

Academic

Definition 1 of 2
Visual representation of "inimical"
LampPro Tip 1/3

Negative Outcome

Use 'inimical' to suggest something leads to bad results.

Illustration for Negative Outcome
Pollution is inimical to the environment
LampPro Tip 2/3

Unfriendly Tone

Expresses a tone that is not supportive or encouraging.

Illustration for Unfriendly Tone
His inimical response discouraged further discussion.
LampPro Tip 3/3

Strong Opposition

Shows strong disagreement or conflict with someone or something.

Illustration for Strong Opposition
The new regulations were inimical to her business interests.
LampPro Tip 1/3

Negative Outcome

Use 'inimical' to suggest something leads to bad results.

Illustration for Negative Outcome
Pollution is inimical to the environment
LampPro Tip 2/3

Unfriendly Tone

Expresses a tone that is not supportive or encouraging.

Illustration for Unfriendly Tone
His inimical response discouraged further discussion.
LampPro Tip 3/3

Strong Opposition

Shows strong disagreement or conflict with someone or something.

Illustration for Strong Opposition
The new regulations were inimical to her business interests.
LampPro Tip 1/3

Negative Outcome

Use 'inimical' to suggest something leads to bad results.

Illustration for Negative Outcome
Pollution is inimical to the environment
LampPro Tip 2/3

Unfriendly Tone

Expresses a tone that is not supportive or encouraging.

Illustration for Unfriendly Tone
His inimical response discouraged further discussion.
LampPro Tip 3/3

Strong Opposition

Shows strong disagreement or conflict with someone or something.

Illustration for Strong Opposition
The new regulations were inimical to her business interests.
Visual representation of the word "Inimical"

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Quote examples

J. D. Vance

American Author

We spend our way to the poorhouse. We buy giant TVs and iPads. Our children wear nice clothes thanks to high-interest credit cards and payday loans. We purchase homes we don't need, refinance them for more spending money, and declare bankruptcy, often leaving them full of garbage in our wake. Thrift is inimical to our being.
Portrait of J. D. Vance

Quote examples

J. M. Coetzee

South African Author

There is nothing more inimical to writing than the spirit of fundamentalism. Fundamentalism abhors the play of signs, the endlessness of writing. Fundamentalism means nothing more or less than going back to an origin and staying there. It stands for one founding book and, thereafter, no more books.
Portrait of J. M. Coetzee

Quote examples

Will Self

English Author

The whole aesthetics of computers very much feeds into my OCD. They fill my head with obsessionalities and my actions become very repetitive. It seems quite inimical to the dreamy state out of which fiction comes which seems so much less causally repetitive than the way one works on computers.
Portrait of Will Self

Quote examples

Ha-Joon Chang

South Korean Economist

The feeling of insecurity is inimical to our sense of wellbeing, as it causes anxiety and stress, which harms our physical and mental health. It is no surprise then that, according to some surveys, workers across the world value job security more highly than wages.
Portrait of Ha-Joon Chang

Quote examples

Robert Shea

American Author

Even while we busily attend meetings, contribute money and perform our assigned tasks, we suspect that we may be helping to create a force that is inimical to many values we hold dear.
Portrait of Robert Shea

Quote examples

Leon Krier

Luxembourger Architect

Modernist architecture and town planning is inimical to human beings... based on the Darwinian concept that evolution is open ended, that there must always be something new and better.
Portrait of Leon Krier

Quote examples

Lee Kuan Yew

Statesman

The exuberance of democracy leads to undisciplined and disorderly conditions which are inimical to development.
Portrait of Lee Kuan Yew

Quote examples

Stephen Sondheim

American Composer

There's something inimical about the camera and song.
Portrait of Stephen Sondheim

Quote examples

J. D. Vance

American Author

We spend our way to the poorhouse. We buy giant TVs and iPads. Our children wear nice clothes thanks to high-interest credit cards and payday loans. We purchase homes we don't need, refinance them for more spending money, and declare bankruptcy, often leaving them full of garbage in our wake. Thrift is inimical to our being.
Portrait of J. D. Vance

Quote examples

J. M. Coetzee

South African Author

There is nothing more inimical to writing than the spirit of fundamentalism. Fundamentalism abhors the play of signs, the endlessness of writing. Fundamentalism means nothing more or less than going back to an origin and staying there. It stands for one founding book and, thereafter, no more books.
Portrait of J. M. Coetzee

Quote examples

Will Self

English Author

The whole aesthetics of computers very much feeds into my OCD. They fill my head with obsessionalities and my actions become very repetitive. It seems quite inimical to the dreamy state out of which fiction comes which seems so much less causally repetitive than the way one works on computers.
Portrait of Will Self

Quote examples

Ha-Joon Chang

South Korean Economist

The feeling of insecurity is inimical to our sense of wellbeing, as it causes anxiety and stress, which harms our physical and mental health. It is no surprise then that, according to some surveys, workers across the world value job security more highly than wages.
Portrait of Ha-Joon Chang

Quote examples

Robert Shea

American Author

Even while we busily attend meetings, contribute money and perform our assigned tasks, we suspect that we may be helping to create a force that is inimical to many values we hold dear.
Portrait of Robert Shea

Quote examples

Leon Krier

Luxembourger Architect

Modernist architecture and town planning is inimical to human beings... based on the Darwinian concept that evolution is open ended, that there must always be something new and better.
Portrait of Leon Krier

Quote examples

Lee Kuan Yew

Statesman

The exuberance of democracy leads to undisciplined and disorderly conditions which are inimical to development.
Portrait of Lee Kuan Yew

Quote examples

Stephen Sondheim

American Composer

There's something inimical about the camera and song.
Portrait of Stephen Sondheim
Example 1 of 8
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