quarrel
An angry argument between people.
- The sisters had a quarrel over whose turn it was on the swing.
- A quarrel broke out between the pirates over who should carry the treasure map.
Similar: argument, row, fight
quarrel or feud?
A quarrel is one angry argument. A feud is a bitter quarrel that goes on and on.
Children often use feud as a grander word for any argument. It is not: the difference is how long it lasts and how bitter it has become.
A quarrel is a single flare-up. Two brothers shouting over who gets the front seat of the car are having a quarrel, and by the time they reach Grandma's they have usually forgotten it.
A feud is a quarrel that has hardened. Two neighbours who fell out over a hedge years ago and still will not say good morning to each other are in a feud. It often spreads to whole families or groups, and nobody can quite remember how it started.
Both words, side by side
feud
A long, bitter quarrel between two people or groups.
- The two farmers had kept up their feud over the hedge for twenty years, never once speaking.
- The feud between the two bakeries lasted for years, and their owners never once said hello.
Similar: quarrel, fight, row
Why it costs marks
Story extracts often describe feuds between families or rival villages, and questions may ask what the word tells you about the relationship. Reading feud as a simple quarrel misses the length and bitterness that the writer chose it to show.
Definitions and example sentences on this page are the ones a child sees inside Wordrealm, taken from our list of over 1,100 words. It is free to browse, with nothing to sign up for.
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test