bellicose
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
In other words, he was dealing with a country just as bellicose and irrational as he is, and it had him in a funk.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
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
I think about Beallsville every time the world grows especially bellicose, and talk of preparation for armed conflict becomes animated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
Whereas other música Mexicana acts have built massive audiences by singing about their more bellicose escapades, Cornejo has made a name for himself by focusing on matters of the heart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2025
The chaplain was shocked by his bellicose words and tone and, to his own amazement and mystification, deeply chagrined that they were turning him loose.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
