of a quarrelsome or hostile nature; eager to fight or quarrel; warlike
Origin of bellicose
Middle English from Classical Latin bellicosus from bellicus, of war from bellum, war from Old Latin duellum: for Indo-European base see duel
adjective
The definition of bellicose is someone or something aggressive and eager or willing to fight.
An example of bellicose are angry rebels who storm a protest march.
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Bellicose. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Bellicose
bellicose
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"Bellicose." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Bellicose.
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Bellicose. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Bellicose
bellicose
adjective
Warlike or hostile in manner or temperament. See Synonyms at belligerent.
Origin of bellicose
Middle English from Latin bellicōsus from bellicus of war from bellum warRelated Forms:
- bel′li·cose′ly
adverb
- bel′li·cos′i·ty bel′li·cose′ness
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"Bellicose." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Bellicose.
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Bellicose. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Bellicose
Adjective
(comparative more bellicose, superlative most bellicose)
- Warlike in nature; aggressive; hostile.
- Showing or having the impulse to be combative.
Origin
Middle English, from Latin bellicosus
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"Bellicose." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Bellicose.
APA Style
Bellicose. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Bellicose
Sentence Examples
- It was one of the most bellicose elements in American society.
- Did they choose bellicose rhetoric out of fear of choosing the wrong side?
- It was one of several bellicose statements by one of its coalition partners.
- He had a bellicose attitude toward trying to break the deadlock on the Western Front.
- The bellicose noises made for war now were silent then.
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