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
Explanation
If you walk into a high school where you know no one, find the toughest looking girl in the halls and tell her she's ugly, them's fighting words. Or bellicose ones. Bellicose means eager for war. Bellicose is from Latin bellum "war." A near synonym is belligerent, from the same Latin noun. You may wonder if they're connected to the Latin bellus "pretty, handsome," which gives us the names Bella or Isabella, as well as belle "a beautiful woman." They're not. War and beauty are not related, except in the case of Helen of Troy.
Vocabulary lists containing bellicose
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 2
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100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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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.
Following weeks of increasingly bellicose rhetoric surrounding his desire to seize the autonomous Danish territory, Trump said at Davos that he had reached a framework of a deal that satisfies him, without providing details.
From Barron's • Jan. 21, 2026
It’s not the first time he’s made such bellicose boasts.
From Slate • Jan. 21, 2026
She later on Monday told reporters that bellicose Iranian public messages are different from Tehran’s private communications.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 12, 2026
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 • Feb. 23, 2025
With a bellicose finger, he jabbed at a picture of Fidel Castro.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
