silent war
1
7.7
- noun
:
guerra silenciosa
- The community faced a silent war against inequality that affected everyone, yet few acknowledged it.
Examples
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In the workplace, she felt as though she was fighting a silent war with her colleagues over recognition.
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If you want to stop hate, then stop providing cover for the government's silent war against minorities.
Blog text (24) -
Many families experience a silent war of emotional struggles that may remain hidden from their neighbors.
How Open
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines the clear meanings of 'silent' (not openly expressed) and 'war' (a conflict), so its sense of a covert or unacknowledged struggle is directly derivable from the parts. This adjective+noun composition is cross-linguistically common and follows productive English patterns, making it understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Silent war may come from the image of a quiet fight: a war with no loud battles, where people use secret moves, small actions, or polite words instead of open fighting. That's why it means 'a conflict or struggle that is not openly shown'.