bellicose

[ bel-i-kohs ]

/ ˈbɛl ɪˌkoʊs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bellicose ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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

Nearby words

bellflower, bellflower family, bellfounder, bellhanger, bellhop, bellicose, bellied, belligerati, belligerence, belligerency, belligerent

Origin of bellicose

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin bellicōsus, equivalent to bellic(us) pertaining to war (bell(um) war + -icus -ic) + -ōsus -ose¹

Related forms

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bellicose

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
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
China is clearly frustrated with its destitute, bellicose neighbor.
Hey, Obama: Keep Out of North Korea|Peter Beinart|April 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST

She contrasted its timidity with a bellicose anti-Hagel salvo from the Christian-right group Concerned Women for America.
The GOP’s Steep Descent Into Extreme Politics and Doctrine|Peter Beinart|February 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Be that as it may, the eyes of all rest upon the same unwarlike pictures torn from the same least bellicose journal.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 150, May 24, 1916|Various
I dare not speak, or could have asked them their mission, and they seemed quite dumbfounded at my bellicose attitude towards them.
Jethou|E. R. Suffling
This seemed to suit his bellicose eminence and to appeal to his barbaric vanity.
Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences|Nebraska Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution
Herein it recalls in some respects the bellicose pacifism of the too celebrated Ostwald.
Above the Battle|Romain Rolland
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

British Dictionary definitions for bellicose

bellicose

/ (ˈbɛlɪˌkəʊs, -ˌkəʊz) /

adjective

warlike; aggressive; ready to fight

Derived Forms

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

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of bellicose

Related forms

Examples from the Web for bellicose

British Dictionary definitions for bellicose

bellicose

adjective

Derived Forms

Word Origin for bellicose