bellicose

adjective

bel·​li·​cose ˈbe-li-ˌkōs 

: favoring or inclined to start quarrels or wars

bellicosity

ˌbe-li-ˈkä-sə-tē 

noun

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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

• aggressive
• agonistic
• argumentative
• assaultive
• belligerent
• brawly
• chippy
• combative
• confrontational
• contentious
• discordant
• disputatious
• feisty
• gladiatorial
• militant
• pugnacious
• quarrelsome
• scrappy
• truculent
• warlike

Choose the Right Synonym for bellicose

belligerent, bellicose, pugnacious, quarrelsome, contentious mean having an aggressive or fighting attitude.

belligerent often implies being actually at war or engaged in hostilities.

belligerent nations

bellicose suggests a disposition to fight.

a drunk in a bellicose mood

pugnacious suggests a disposition that takes pleasure in personal combat.

a pugnacious gangster

quarrelsome stresses an ill-natured readiness to fight without good cause.

the heat made us all quarrelsome

contentious implies perverse and irritating fondness for arguing and quarreling.

wearied by his contentious disposition

Examples of bellicose in a Sentence

Never in peacetime, perhaps, have the statements of our government officials been more relentlessly bellicose. Yet their actions have been comparatively cautious. —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

Recent Examples on the Web

But the Israeli military’s increasingly bellicose statements pointing to an imminent ground invasion have cooled as diplomats on the sidelines of the United General Assembly rushed to secure a pause in the fighting. —NBC News, 28 Sep. 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began to pivot from fighting Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, backed by bellicose allies on his extreme right. —Christian Edwards, CNN, 25 Sep. 2024

Camp Humphreys’ importance has only grown as North Korea has expanded its military threat in recent years, building a nuclear missile program in defiance of United Nations resolutions banning it, and releasing a steady stream of bellicose rhetoric against South Korea and its American ally. —Mike Valerio, CNN, 2 Sep. 2024

But Russia’s war in Ukraine extends well beyond its ruthless missile and drone strikes, its legions of soldiers, and its bellicose rhetoric. —David Lewis, Foreign Affairs, 18 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin bellicosus, from bellicus of war, from bellum war

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

bellicose

adjective

bel·​li·​cose ˈbel-ə-ˌkōs 

: likely to quarrel or fight

bellicosity

ˌbel-ə-ˈkäs-ət-ē 

noun