noun
strife
stryf
noun
1
Bitter conflict or struggle, sometimes violent.
"Decades of civil strife had left the country's economy in ruins."
"The two families had a long history of strife over the shared land."
How to Use Strife
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSerious conflict, tension, or fighting between people or groups.
Common pairings
civil strife
domestic strife
a period of strife
Word Forms
strifes plural
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Decades of civil _____ had left the country's economy in ruins.
Etymology
From Old French estrif, related to the verb estriver ("to strive, quarrel"), itself from a Frankish root — the same origin as "strive."