bellicose

[ bel-i-kohs ]

/ ˈbɛl ɪˌkoʊs /

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See synonyms for: bellicose / bellicoseness / bellicosity on Thesaurus.com

adjective

inclined or eager to fight; aggressively hostile; belligerent; pugnacious.

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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 -ose¹

OTHER WORDS FROM bellicose

bel·li·cose·ly, adverbbel·li·cos·i·ty

[bel-i-kos-i-tee], /ˌbɛl ɪˈkɒs ɪ ti/, bel·li·cose·ness, nounun·bel·li·cose, adjective

Words nearby bellicose

bellhanger, bell-hanger's bit, bell heather, bellhop, bell housing, bellicose, bellied, belligerati, belligerence, belligerency, belligerent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use bellicose in a sentence

McQuade said the choice of Fernich suggests the campaign may be mostly concerned with presenting a bellicose image.
What Matt Gaetz’s Legal Lineup Tells Us About His Troubles|Roger Sollenberger|September 27, 2021|The Daily Beast
Over his decades in New York politics, the Governor’s bellicose personality hasn’t changed, but the landscape around it has.
Andrew Cuomo Was a 'Resistance' Icon. Now There's 'Blood in the Water'|Charlotte Alter|March 2, 2021|Time
In the last decades of his life he became reclusive and bellicose.
Why Can’t Movies Capture Genius?|Clive Irving|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This explains why the Tea Party faithful often appear to be so bellicose.
The Tea Party Isn’t a Political Movement, It’s a Religious One|Jack Schwartz|July 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Despite bellicose statements to the contrary, China did nothing to intervene as the U.S. bombers passed through the area.
U.S. Uses B-52 Bombers to Brush Back Chinese Expansion|Nico Hines|November 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In 2009 he published a book defaming Hitchens and Richard Dawkins because he was irked by their bellicose brand of atheism.
Do We Need to Be Told How to Read?|William Giraldi|June 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile, the usually tentative European powers have joined the more bellicose part of the choir.
Mideast War in Our Time?|Jamie Dettmer|May 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The bellicose ardor of the stripling seemed to strike the royal envoy even more forcibly than anything he had yet seen.
The Pilgrim's Shell or Fergan the Quarryman|Eugne Sue
Naturally those parts of the river which remained unexplored were supposed to be the land of the "bellicose dames."
Female Warriors, Vol. I (of 2)|Ellen C. Clayton
For one or the other to make way by temporarily backing, was, of course—to bellicose goats—entirely out of the question.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93, October 15th 1887|Various
Two bellicose goats once encountered each other in the middle of a narrow bridge spanning a deep gulf and a raging torrent.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93, October 15th 1887|Various
On account of his bellicose nature he was given the sobriquet of "Red Hot Jones."
The Journal of Negro History, Volume 5, 1920|Various

British Dictionary definitions for bellicose

bellicose

/ (ˈbɛlɪˌkəʊs, -ˌkəʊz) /

adjective

warlike; aggressive; ready to fight

Derived forms of bellicose

bellicosely, adverbbellicosity (ˌbɛlɪˈkɒsɪtɪ), noun

Word Origin for bellicose

C15: from Latin bellicōsus, from bellum war

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

bellicose

Origin of bellicose

OTHER WORDS FROM bellicose

Words nearby bellicose

Words related to bellicose

How to use bellicose in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bellicose

Derived forms of bellicose

Word Origin for bellicose