stryfe

Noun

strife (countable and uncountable, plural strifes)

1. Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work.
2. Exertion or contention for superiority, either by physical or intellectual means.
   • From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
     A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
     Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
     Do with their death bury their parents' strife.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
3. Bitter conflict, sometimes violent.
   • A few observations about the interpretation of vows or pledges may not be out of place here. Interpretation of pledges has been a fruitful source of strife all the world over. No matter how explicit the pledge, people will turn and twist the text to suit their own purposes.1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xvii

   Synonyms:

   altercation, contention, discord, wrangle

4. (colloquial) A trouble of any kind.
5. (obsolete) That which is contended against; occasion of contest.
   • He ſpide lamenting her unlucky ſtrife,1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC