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bellicose Definition

bel·li·cose (beli kōs′)

adjective

of a quarrelsome or hostile nature; eager to fight or quarrel; warlike

Etymology: ME < L bellicosus < bellicus, of war < bellum, war < OL duellum: for IE base see duel

bellicose Related Forms
bel·li·cose′ly adverb bel′·li·cos·ity (bel′i käsə tē) noun
bellicose Synonyms

bellicose

modif.

bellicose Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • rhetoric: Or will they sit out the fighting, despite their bellicose rhetoric, out of fear of choosing the wrong side?
  • statement: Jafar did categorically rule out any return to war, thus distancing Renamo from bellicose statements by one of its coalition partners.
  • threat: We must condemn the bellicose threats of the US and British governments against the DPRK and all other countries.
  • noise: Many of those making bellicose noises for war now were silent then.
  • attitude: Germany took a more bellicose attitude toward trying to break the deadlock on the Western Front.
  • element: George Bush was supported by some of the most bellicose elements in American society.

Modifying Another Word

  • increasingly: How do you reconcile what local people are saying with the increasingly bellicose noises out of America?

Used with adjective complement

  • become: They will become more bellicose rather than diplomatic, more self-righteous and dismissive when criticized.
bellicose Quotes

All successful newspapers are ceaselesslyquerulous and bellicose.

—Mencken, H(enry) L(ouis)