Hostile To: Standard Pattern
Hostile To: Standard Pattern records the directly documented construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced complement pattern rather than inventing a broader prohibition.
Use “hostile to” when expressing opposition to an idea, proposal, policy, or change.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| opposed or unfriendly toward an idea, proposal, policy, or change | hostile to + noun | Use “to” for the documented complement. |
| different sense or sentence structure | context-specific | Do not generalize the preposition mechanically beyond the intended relation. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Are you expressing opposition or unfriendliness toward the thing that follows?
If yes: Use “hostile to.”
If no: Use the construction required by the different meaning or syntax.
Caveat: The pattern is sense-dependent; this is not a claim that “hostile” must always be followed by “to.”
Examples
Several members were hostile to the proposal.
“To” introduces the proposal being opposed.
The group is hostile to further expansion.
The complement names the change opposed.
Markets can be hostile to abrupt uncertainty.
“To” introduces what receives the hostile response.
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge documents “hostile to” when someone is opposed to an idea or change.
Style Boundary
This page covers the opposition sense of hostile to, not every attributive use of hostile such as hostile weather or a hostile takeover.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- hostile — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary evidence for hostile to when expressing opposition to an idea or proposal.