inhospitable
/ˌɪnhɒˈspɪtəb(ə)l
/ /ɪnˈhɒspɪtəb(ə)l/adjective
1(Of an environment) harsh and difficult to live in: the inhospitable landscape...
- Tibetans still form a majority of people living in the inhospitable countryside.
- So why would any sane recreational diver seek to dive in such an inhospitable environment?
- It is a harsh, inhospitable land, covered in flies and governed by insufferable temperatures that defies easy civilization.
Synonyms
uninviting, unwelcoming;
bleak, lonely, empty, forbidding, cheerless, hostile, harsh, inimical;
uninhabitable, barren, bare, sterile, desolate, austere, severe, stark, spartan
2(Of a person) unfriendly and unwelcoming towards people.He encountered storms, bogs and forests, was given the cold shoulder by the inhospitable inhabitants of Fouzilhac, got lost and had to camp out for the first time....
- She lived in Toronto for one year and discovered that English Canadians were not the cold, inhospitable lot she had been led to believe they were.
- Nor were its inhabitants ‘a wild and inhospitable people’, of whom it could be said ‘All their habits are the habits of barbarians’.
Synonyms
unwelcoming, unfriendly, unsociable, unsocial, antisocial, unneighbourly, uncongenial, cool, cold, chilly, frosty, glacial, aloof, stand-offish, haughty, disdainful, distant, remote, indifferent, offhand;
uncivil, discourteous, ungracious;
ungenerous, unkind, unsympathetic, ill-disposed;
hostile, inimical, xenophobic
Derivatives
inhospitableness
/ noun ...- With the extent and inhospitableness of its spaces, it was a night of eerie solitude.
- Flying into Arequipa gives a sense of the inhospitableness of the landscape.
inhospitably
/ adverb ...- As spring turns to summer, the mercury rises drastically in the region, making the deserts that are likely to be the theatre for war, inhospitably hot.
- The area has gold, coal, tin, oil, and reindeer, but making a living out of any of them is tough because of inhospitably cold temperatures and high winds.
- The breathtaking scenery, which ranges from inhospitably barren to invitingly lush, makes The Motorcycle Diaries a story of the land as much as a story of the two men traveling it.
inhospitality
/ noun ...- Flying high above, the sight of cities gives an impression of the human struggle for survival against the harsh inhospitality of nature.
- ‘The sheer inhospitality of the region means there is very little there, other than desert and mountains,’ he says.
- Sir, please pardon my inhospitality, however, it is rather late and I am actually not very anxious to see you at the moment.
Origin
Late 16th century: French, from in- 'not' + hospitable (see hospitable).