bellicose
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- bellicosely adverb
- bellicoseness noun
- bellicosity noun
- unbellicose adjective
Etymology
Origin of bellicose
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin bellicōsus, equivalent to bellic(us) “pertaining to war” ( bell(um) “war” + -icus -ic ) + -ōsus -ose 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She later on Monday told reporters that bellicose Iranian public messages are different from Tehran’s private communications.
I think about Beallsville every time the world grows especially bellicose, and talk of preparation for armed conflict becomes animated.
The first ad from the group in Wisconsin race aired on Feb. 20, invoking a similar bellicose style to the group’s prior efforts.
From Salon
But his attitude to the bellicose rhetoric from Mar-A-Lago is far from relaxed.
From BBC
Edelstein is taking his cues from the text, though his cast sometimes struggles when the bellicose mood switches abruptly into high pathos.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
