hawkish

adjective

hawk·​ish ˈhȯ-kish 

1

: resembling or suggesting a hawk or the beak of a hawk in appearance

a hawkish nose

He has a thatch of black curly hair and hawkish features.

—Jeff Shear

2

: having a militant attitude (as in a dispute) and advocating immediate vigorous action

especially : supporting war or warlike policies

a hawkish politician

He was a frequent and persistently hawkish participant in the war councils of the Administration.

—Vincent Blasi

While definitions vary, "neoconservative" generally refers to formerly moderate policy advocates who favor a hawkish and assertive foreign policy to implant democracy and American values abroad.

—Paul Richter

hawkishly adverb

Land is expensive, scarce, and watched hawkishly by environmentalists.

—Boston Magazine

hawkishness noun

… his Western anti-government philosophy and cold-war hawkishness…

—Jon Meacham

Examples of hawkish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But Powell could also sound hawkish next week and dampen expectations for further rate cuts. —Sean Conlon, CNBC, 5 Dec. 2025

While the market is pricing in a Fed rate cut, it could be accompanied by more hawkish forward guidance, which could hurt risk assets like bitcoin, according to Adam Crisafulli, head of Vital Knowledge. —Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 1 Dec. 2025

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve policymakers have been sounding increasingly hawkish, putting a rate cut next month in doubt. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 22 Nov. 2025

Now Takaichi, a hawkish figure who has previously drawn Beijing’s ire for questioning some of the narratives around imperial Japan’s culpability for its war atrocities, has taken the step of speaking plainly on the Taiwan issue. —Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 21 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1747, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for hawkish

• mawkish