bellicose

bel·li·cose

adjective \ˈbe-li-ˌkōs\

Definition of BELLICOSE

: favoring or inclined to start quarrels or wars

— bel·li·cos·i·ty \ˌbe-li-ˈkä-sə-tē\ noun

Examples of BELLICOSE

1. <bellicose hockey players who always seem to spend more time fighting than playing>
2. Never in peacetime, perhaps, have the statements of our government officials been more relentlessly bellicose. Yet their actions have been comparatively cautious. —New Yorker, 24 June 1985
3. For three centuries Viking raiders haunted western Europe. The bellicose Charlemagne himself felt menaced. —Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers, 1983
4. His evident calm, which always infuriated the opposition, must have irritated the bellicose colonel to a point at which he could control himself no longer. —Michael Pearson, Those Damned Rebels, 1972

Origin of BELLICOSE

Middle English, from Latin bellicosus, from bellicus of war, from bellum war

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to BELLICOSE

Synonyms

aggressive, agonistic, argumentative, assaultive, belligerent, brawly, chippy, combative, confrontational, contentious, discordant, disputatious, feisty, gladiatorial, militant, pugnacious, quarrelsome, scrappy, truculent, warlike

Antonyms

nonaggressive, nonbelligerent, pacific, peaceable, peaceful, unbelligerent, uncombative, uncontentious

Related Words

antagonistic, fierce, hostile, hot-tempered; acidic, bearish, bilious, bristly, choleric, crabby, cranky, cross, disagreeable, dyspeptic, fractious, fretful, grouchy, grumpy, huffy, ill-humored, ill-natured, ill-tempered, irascible, irritable, ornery, peevish, pettish, petulant, prickly, querulous, rude, snappish, snappy, stroppy [British], surly, testy, touchy, ugly, waspish; savage, vicious; battling, fighting, warring

Near Antonyms

anti-imperialist, antimilitarist, unwarlike; affable, amiable, amicable, benevolent, complaisant, conciliatory, cordial, easygoing, friendly, genial, good-natured, good-tempered, gracious, ingratiating, kindhearted, obliging, pleasant, sociable; calm, quiet, relaxed, serene, tranquil; benign, gentle, kindly, mild

See Synonym Discussion at belligerent

Rhymes with BELLICOSE

adios, adipose, calvados, cellulose, comatose, diagnose, grandiose, granulose, Helios, lachrymose, megadose, otiose, overdose, racemose, Shabuoth, tuberose, varicose, ventricose