Since bellicose describes an attitude that hopes for actual war, the word is generally applied to nations and their leaders. In the 20th century, it was commonly used to describe such figures as Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm, Italy's Benito Mussolini, and Japan's General Tojo, leaders who believed their countries had everything to gain by starting wars. The international relations of a nation with a bellicose foreign policy tend to be stormy and difficult, and bellicosity usually makes the rest of the world very uneasy.
pugnacious suggests a disposition that takes pleasure in personal combat.
a pugnacious gangster
quarrelsome stresses an ill-natured readiness to fight without good cause.
the heat made us all quarrelsome
contentious implies perverse and irritating fondness for arguing and quarreling.
wearied by his contentious disposition
Examples of bellicose in a Sentence
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 1985For three centuries Viking raiders haunted western Europe. The bellicose Charlemagne himself felt menaced.—Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers, 1983His 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, 1972bellicose hockey players who seem to spend more time fighting than playing
Recent Examples on the WebDespite bellicose warnings in the initial days of the conflict, the Kremlin has refrained from conducting strikes against Ukraine’s Western allies, even though shipments of materiel destined for Ukrainian forces are regularly arriving from Poland, a NATO member.—Paul Sonne, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024 Conditional, credible consequences are now essential to encouraging a less bellicose Chinese policy.—Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024 To indicate intent, South Africa’s complaint relies on bellicose statements from various Israeli officials.—The Editors, National Review, 19 Jan. 2024 China may therefore be less bellicose for the time being.—Michael J. Mazarr, Foreign Affairs, 9 Feb. 2024 Although these elections have been shambolic, pre-polling indicated Tshisekedi had strong support after running a highly populist, nationalist campaign peppered with bellicose speeches aimed at neighboring Rwanda.—Katharine Houreld, Washington Post, 31 Dec. 2023 This is not a permission slip to act as bellicose jerks or hypocritical scoundrels.—Andrew T. Walker, National Review, 31 Dec. 2023 But not without a preemptive visit to one of Trey’s bellicose Civil War reenactments, because apparently things were not sufficiently eccentric.—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2023 Even until his passing, Kissinger maintained a relatively less hawkish stance on U.S.-China relations when compared to the latest bellicose rhetoric on the hill in Washington, believing that such antagonistic relations would be bad for both superpowers and the world.—Michael Sheldrick, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bellicose.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Latin bellicosus, from bellicus of war, from bellum war
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