belligerently
Americanadverb
Explanation
Mean people are not cool. They go around acting belligerently, or being hostile and aggressive to others. No one likes a meanie. The word belligerently comes from the Latin belligerant meaning "waging war," which is in effect, what someone acting belligerently is doing. Think of those two l's in the word as two soldiers marching in formation and you might have some help remembering that belligerently is spelled with two l's and not one. Often this word is used to describe the way that some people start to behave when they've had too much to drink, lashing out belligerently, or being overly aggressive.
Vocabulary lists containing belligerently
Of Mice and Men
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Number the Stars
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Fighting Words: Belli and Milit
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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.
But in making Wynona so belligerently flawed and River so narcissistically self-serving, FastHorse diminishes our concern for the outcome of their battle.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2025
Some of the company’s customers reacted badly, belligerently proclaiming their love of meat — or even threatening a boycott.
From Washington Post • Aug. 9, 2022
When people in the audience at a presentation ask questions belligerently, Berg responds, “Do you feel better? Can I continue?”
From Scientific American • Mar. 25, 2022
The boxy, drab exterior, set a few steps up and back from the street wall, looks almost belligerently banal.
From New York Times • Feb. 4, 2022
“And what about you?” he said, a trifle belligerently.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
