Crossword Genius

Hostility in country church (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

malice

'hostility' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'country church' is the wordplay.
'country' becomes 'Mali' (Mali is an example).
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'mali'+'ce'='MALICE'

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for malice that I've seen before include "Hate" , "'Ill-will, spite (6)'" , "Desire to harm others, may be aforethought" , "Bitterness" , "Spite and rancour" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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