user-hostile

adjective

Difficult to use, especially for an untrained user.

Opposite
user-friendly
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectiveuser-hostile (comparative more user-hostile, superlative most user-hostile)

comparative more user-hostile · superlative most user-hostile · alternative user hostile

  1. Difficult to use, especially for an untrained user.

    Usability is not a quality that can be spread out to cover a poor design like a thick layer of peanut butter, so a user-hostile interface does not get user-friendly even by the addition of a brilliant help system.

    1994, Jakob Nielsen, Usability Engineering
    1 more example

    If you've had some experience using JavaScript and HTML, then you know that JavaScript can be used to make an interface much more user-friendly (even though it can also be used to create user-hostile features, even ones that crash the browser).

    2002, Mark Pearrow, The Wireless Web Usability Handbook

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
user-friendly

Origin

From user + hostile, influenced by user-friendly.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

user-hostile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/user-hostile

MLA

“user-hostile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/user-hostile. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “user-hostile,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/user-hostile.

Source: user-hostile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.