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Don't War Over the Meaning of Bellicose
Since bellicose describes an attitude that hopes for actual war, the word is generally applied to nations and their leaders. In the 20th century, it was commonly used to describe such figures as Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm, Italy's Benito Mussolini, and Japan's General Tojo, leaders who believed their countries had everything to gain by starting wars. The international relations of a nation with a bellicose foreign policy tend to be stormy and difficult, and bellicosity usually makes the rest of the world very uneasy.
Synonyms
Examples of bellicose in a Sentence
New Yorker, 24 June 1985
For three centuries Viking raiders haunted western Europe. The bellicose Charlemagne himself felt menaced.
—Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers, 1983
His evident calm, which always infuriated the opposition, must have irritated the bellicose colonel to a point at which he could control himself no longer.
—Michael Pearson, Those Damned Rebels, 1972
bellicose hockey players who seem to spend more time fighting than playing
Comfort Ero, Foreign Affairs, 1 Apr. 2024
The fear that comes from living so close to an increasingly bellicose China supersedes his concerns that enlargement could infringe on his pineapple and sugar cane fields.
—Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2024
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s bellicose response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022 — in which the PLA fired five ballistic missiles into waters near Okinawa — rattled Japan.
—Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
The billionaire’s rhetoric about immigration has become increasingly bellicose, and similar in tone to Trump’s.
—Nancy Cook, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2024
Despite bellicose warnings in the initial days of the conflict, the Kremlin has refrained from conducting strikes against Ukraine’s Western allies, even though shipments of materiel destined for Ukrainian forces are regularly arriving from Poland, a NATO member.
—Paul Sonne, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024
Conditional, credible consequences are now essential to encouraging a less bellicose Chinese policy.
—Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024
To indicate intent, South Africa’s complaint relies on bellicose statements from various Israeli officials.
—The Editors, National Review, 19 Jan. 2024
China may therefore be less bellicose for the time being.
—Michael J. Mazarr, Foreign Affairs, 9 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bellicose.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Middle English, from Latin bellicosus, from bellicus of war, from bellum war
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near bellicose
Cite this Entry
“Bellicose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bellicose. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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