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conflict Definition

con·flict (kən flikt′; for n. kän′flikt′)

intransitive verb

  1. Obsolete to fight; battle; contend
  2. to be antagonistic, incompatible, or contradictory; be in opposition; clash ideas that conflict

Etymology: ME conflicten < L conflictus, pp. of confligere, to strike together < com-, together + fligere, to strike: see inflict

noun

  1. a fight or struggle, esp. a protracted one; war
  2. sharp disagreement or opposition, as of interests or ideas; clash
  3. emotional disturbance resulting from a clash of opposing impulses or from an inability to reconcile impulses with realistic or moral considerations
  4. Rare collision of moving bodies

conflict Related Forms
con·flic′·tion noun con·flic′·tive adjective
conflict Synonyms

conflict

n.

  1. A fight

    battle, dispute, struggle; see battle 1, 2, dispute, fight 1.

  2. A state of discord

    opposition, friction, ambivalence, struggle; see disagreement 1, opposition 1. See syn. study at fight.

conflict Synonyms

conflict

v.

clash, collide, contrast, contend; see clash, differ 1, fight 2, oppose 1, 2.

conflict Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • resolve: We must work at resolving these conflicts or finding a way through.
  • avoid: Yellow buoys mark the area reserved for sail training to avoid conflict from other water users.
  • perceive: It also gives a sub-contractor the opportunity to object to a proposed adjudicator on the grounds of actual or perceived conflict of interest.
  • manage: The trustees took no steps to manage the potential conflict of interest of leasing the Lodge from their resident employees.
  • prevent: They prevent conflict of interest among those who use state power.
  • minimize: Footpaths should be designed with personal safety in mind and should be located so as to minimize any conflict with motor vehicles.

Converse of subject

  • displace: Find out about the work of international aid agencies who support those displaced by conflict.

Adjective modifier

  • armed: UNESCO's head must call for a halt to the armed conflict.
  • violent: International Alert works to build sustainable peace in areas affected or threatened by violent conflict.
  • ethnic: However, ethnic conflict is not the dominant fact in Queens ' life.
  • potential: The trustees took no steps to manage the potential conflict of interest of leasing the Lodge from their resident employees.
  • internal: They discussed the internal conflicts in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, between Stalin and Trotsky.

Modifies a noun

  • resolution: All these approaches bring to mind conflict resolution studies.
  • prevention: Conflict prevention is at the heart of the European Union.
  • transformation: Education in emergencies builds skills for survival, recovery and development and supports conflict transformation and peace-building.
  • zone: Much of the weaponry in use in today's conflict zones is transferred there by brokers.

Noun used with modifier

  • intergroup: There are now more opportunities in local institutions and universities to research intergroup conflict.

Preposition: of

  • interest: A conflict of interest may also arise from an employe's personal interests.
  • loyalty: It will embarrass the children and give them a conflict of loyalties.
conflict Quotes

There is no nation on the continent of Europe that is less able to do harm to England, and there isno nation on the continent of Europe to whom we are less able to do harm, than Russia.We are so separate that it seems impossible that the two nations, by the use of reason or common sense at all, could possibly be brought into conflict with each other.

—Bright,John

How beautiful is all this visible world! How glorious in its action and itself! But we, who name ourselves its sovereigns, we, Half dust, half deity, alike unfit To sink or soar, with our mixed essence make A conflict of its elements, and breathe The breath of degradation and of pride.

—Rochdale

The new, old, and constantly changing language of politics is a lexicon of conflict and drama†ridicule and reproach†pleading and persuasion.

—Safire,William

Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many, to so few.

—Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer

We are not at war with Egypt.We are in armed conflict.

—Eden, Sir (Robert) Anthony, 1st Earl of Avon