Strife
noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work. countable, uncountable
- 2 bitter conflict; heated often violent dissension wordnet
- 3 Exertion or contention for superiority, either by physical or intellectual means. countable, uncountable
"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife."
- 4 lack of agreement or harmony wordnet
- 5 Bitter conflict, sometimes violent. countable, uncountable
"A few observations about the interpretation of vows or pledges may not be out of place here. Interpretation of pledges has been a fruitful source of strife all the world over. No matter how explicit the pledge, people will turn and twist the text to suit their own purposes."
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- 6 A trouble of any kind. colloquial, countable, uncountable
- 7 That which is contended against; occasion of contest. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"He ſpide lamenting her unlucky ſtrife,"
Example
More examples"Marriage, in peace, is this world's paradise; in strife, this life's purgatory."
Etymology
From Middle English strif, stryf, striffe, from Old French estrif, noun derived from estriver, from Frankish *strīban; compare Dutch strijven. More at strive.
Related phrases
More for "strife"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.