Feud Meaning
/fjuːd/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA state of long-standing mutual hostility.
nounA staged rivalry between wrestlers.
Sentence Examples
Our feud traces back to our childhood.
Feast all night and feud in the morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The two families had a bitter ____ that lasted for decades.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The long-standing ____ between the two families finally ended after many years of bitter disagreement.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Northern Middle English fede, feide, from Old French faide, feide, fede, from Proto-West Germanic *faihiþu (“hatred, enmity”) (corresponding to foe + -th), from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- (“hostile”). Cognate to Old English fǣhþ, fǣhþu, fǣhþo (“hostility, enmity, violence, revenge, vendetta”), German Fehde, and Dutch vete (“feud”) (directly inherited from Proto-West Germanic) alongside Danish fejde (“feud, enmity, hostility, war”) and Swedish fejd (“feud, controversy, quarrel, strife”) (borrowed from Middle Low German).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Wherein my sword had not impressure made / Of our ranke feud: but the iust gods gainsay,"
— c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
"Mr. Cumming’s Dionysus in “The Bacchae” is conceived as a rock star, the rhythm-and-blues Maenads as his backup singers and groupies, and his feud with his cousin Pentheus, king of Thebes, as an encounter of the hedonistic, ambigendered, exotic Other, with “the fear of letting that into your culture,” Mr. Tiffany said."
— 2008 June 29, Celia Mcgee, “The Greeks Hoist the Dramatic Flag of Scotland”, in The New York Times:
"The feuds between Namsang and Borduria continued. In 1875-76 the dispute between the Namsang and Borduria arose about the buffaloes which were carried off by Borduria people from Namsang areas."
— 2015, “Arunachal Pradesh”, in H. M. Bareh, editor, Encyclopaedia Of North-East India, 1st edition, Mittal Publications, →ISBN, archived from the original on 11 Nov 2022, page 72:
"As a result of the heel turn, [Riki] Choshu was instantly elevated as a headliner and feuded with [Tatsumi] Fujinami in main events for two years over the WWF [World Wrestling Federation] International Heavyweight strap."
— 2002, John F. Molinaro, edited by Jeff Marek and Dave Meltzer, Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time, Toronto, Ont.: Winding Stair Press, →ISBN, page 78, column 1:
"Don’t look back in anger—Oasis, the prodigal sons of Brit-pop, is returning. After years of public feuding and subtweets and alleged battery with a cricket bat, the Gallagher brothers—Liam and Noel, obvs—are working it out on the remix, with a rash of 2025 summer dates announced on their website."
— 2024 August 28, Raven Smith, “Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, and the Art of the Public Feud”, in Vogue:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The two families had a bitter ____ that lasted for decades.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The long-standing ____ between the two families finally ended after many years of bitter disagreement.