Meaning of conflict in English

conflict

noun [ C or U ]

/ˈkɑːn.flɪkt/ uk

/ˈkɒn.flɪkt/

conflict noun [C or U] (ARGUING OR FIGHTING)

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an active disagreement between people with opposing opinions or principles:

conflict between There was a lot of conflict between him and his father.

It was an unpopular policy and caused a number of conflicts within the party.

bring someone into conflict with someone/something His outspoken views would frequently bring him into conflict with the president.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

an argument

argumentI don't want to get into an argument with you about this.
disagreementThere was a disagreement over who should pay the bill.
quarrelThere were bitter quarrels between the two neighbors.
rowUK My parents had a row about money.
squabbleI'm always dealing with squabbles between the children.
tiffShe had a tiff with her boyfriend last night.

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fighting between two or more groups of people or countries:

conflict between We wish to avoid conflict between our countries if at all possible.

More examplesFewer examples

Both sides involved in the conflict made some concessions in yesterday's talks.
An independent adviser has been brought in to conciliate between the two sides involved in the conflict.
The conflict destabilized the whole region.
They had worked for peace during the long era of conflict.
The ambassador has offered to act as a go-between for the two countries involved in the conflict.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Arguments & disagreements

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Fighting

conflict noun [C or U] (DIFFERENCE)

a situation in which beliefs, needs, facts, etc. are very different and cannot easily exist together or both be true:

conflict between Is a conflict between protection of the environment and economic growth inevitable?

He says he sees no conflict in being gentle and caring and being a strong man.

conflict of interest (also conflict of interests)

a situation in which someone cannot make a fair decision because they will be affected by the result:

declare a conflict of interest I need to declare a conflict of interest here - one of the candidates for the job is a friend of mine.

More examplesFewer examples

She finds that many women face a conflict between career responsibilities and raising a family.
I have sometimes felt a conflict between my faith and my political principles.
We never saw any conflict in being businesspeople and being environmentalists.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Being and appearing different

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conflict

verb [ I ]

/kənˈflɪkt/ uk

/kənˈflɪkt/

conflict verb [I] (BE OPPOSITE)

If beliefs, needs, or facts, etc. conflict, they are very different and cannot easily exist together or both be true:

conflict with The results of the new research would seem to conflict with existing theories.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Being and appearing different

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conflict verb [I] (FIGHT)

to fight or disagree actively:

conflict with If the two sides conflict with each other again, it will be disastrous for party unity.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Arguing & disagreeing

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(Definition of conflict from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

conflict | Intermediate English

conflict

noun

/ˈkɑn·flɪkt/

conflict noun (DISAGREEMENT)

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[ C/U ]

an active disagreement, as between opposing opinions or needs:

[ C ] Conflicts between parents and children become more frequent when the children become teenagers.

[ U ] This technology may be in conflict with copyright law.

[ C/U ]

A conflict is also fighting between two or more countries or groups of people:

[ C ] Negotiations with both sides have not yet led to a resolution of the conflict.

conflict noun (STRUGGLE)

[ U ] literature us/ˈkɑn·flɪkt/

the forces that oppose each other to create the plot in a story, book, or film

external conflict

External conflict is a struggle between characters or between characters and nature or society.

internal conflict

Characters' struggles to change or understand themselves is internal conflict.

conflict

verb [ I ]

/kənˈflɪkt/

to be in active disagreement, as between opposing opinions or needs:

We received reports that conflict with each other.

conflicting

adjective us

/kənˈflɪk·tɪŋ/

There are many conflicting cancer studies.

(Definition of conflict from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

conflict | Business English

conflict

noun [ C or U ]

/ˈkɒnflɪkt/ us

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a serious disagreement between people, organizations, or countries with opposing opinions:

conflict (with sb) (over sth) In that year conflict with the government over pay settlements led to an unprecedented civil service strike.

come into conflict (with sb) It is only to be expected that members of your team will come into conflict with each other at some point.

It was a controversial decision and caused a number of conflicts within the workforce.

Managers will need to ensure that strategies for conflict resolution (= finding a solution to a disagreement) are in place.

a situation in which there are opposing demands or ideas and a choice has to be made between them:

conflict between sth and sth The situation becomes more difficult when there is a conflict between the needs of internal and external stakeholders.

come into conflict (with sth) If we go ahead with this, we may come into conflict with health and safety regulations.

Examples of conflict

conflict

In a community this small, there is no such thing as conflict of interest.

From OregonLive.com

They need only disclose the existence of such matters and any potential conflicts.

From The Seattle Times

Millions have died in successive conflicts, some backed by neighboring countries.

From Washington Post

It's a very difficult decision to try to do things during a conflict.

From NPR

Conflict, turmoil and even destruction have put these children at great risk.

From USA TODAY

A school of thought known as inclusive fitness theory -- or kin selection -- sits at the center of the conflict.

From Slate Magazine

As many as 60,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed in this conflict, of which 20,000 are totally uninhabitable, rendering around 110,000 people effectively homeless.

From Foreign Policy

Or, in the case of the conflict minerals rule, to help end a devastating war.

From The Hill

As the conflict heads into its seventh year, the effects have reverberated far and wide.

From Bloomberg

Why is talking about vaccine safety and conflicts of interest forbidden?

From TIME

Yet, for most of us there are conflicts that are holding us back.

From Huffington Post

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with conflict

conflict

These are words often used in combination with conflict.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

armed conflict

What we therefore see emerging in situations of armed conflict is the extension of traditional child labour practices.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

bitter conflict

The continued use of words and phrases that stir up memories of this bitter conflict can do nothing but harm.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

communal conflict

The intensification of communal conflict further only made this consensus more difficult to achieve.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with conflict

What is the pronunciation of conflict?

Translations of conflict

in Chinese (Traditional)

衝突, 分歧, 爭論…

in Chinese (Simplified)

冲突, 分歧, 争论…

in Spanish

conflicto, estar en contradicción, diferir…

in Portuguese

conflito, divergir, conflito [masculine]…

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संघर्ष, झगडा, लढाई…

争い, 対立, （人、意見などが）対立する…

anlaşmazlık, çekişme, (ülke ve gruplar arsı) çatışma…

conflit [masculine], lutte [feminine], s’opposer…

conflicte, estar en pugna, diferir…

conflict, strijd, strijdig zijn…

எதிரெதிர் கருத்துக்கள் அல்லது கொள்கைகளைக் கொண்ட நபர்களிடையே செயல்களில் உள்ள கருத்து வேறுபாடு, மக்கள் அல்லது நாடுகளின் இரண்டு அல்லது அதற்கு மேற்பட்ட குழுக்களுக்கு இடையிலான சண்டை…

(विरोधी विचारधारा या राय वाले व्यक्तियों के बीच) विवाद, संघर्ष, दो या दो से अधिक लोगों या देशों के समूहों के बीच लड़ाई…

વિવાદ, વિરોધી વિચારધારા અથવા મંતવ્યો ધરાવતી વ્યક્તિઓ વચ્ચે વિવાદ, સંઘર્ષ…

konflikt, strid, kamp…

konflikt, strid, gå isär…

konflik, peperangan, bertelagah…

der Streit, der Zusammenstoß, kollidieren…