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Don't War Over the Meaning of Bellicose
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.
Examples of bellicose in a Sentence
New Yorker, 24 June 1985
For three centuries Viking raiders haunted western Europe. The bellicose Charlemagne himself felt menaced.
—Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers, 1983
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
bellicose hockey players who seem to spend more time fighting than playing
Dan Mangan, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2026
Later archeological research, including forensic examination of skeletal remains, has turned up no evidence for cannibalism or for a particularly bellicose society on Rapa Nui.
—Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Once the bluster and bellicose posturing has cleared, Europe is left with the war of today, not the one that probably won’t happen tomorrow.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 21 Jan. 2026
For days, the president has issued increasingly bellicose warnings toward Tehran as protests have convulsed the Islamic Republic.
—Bobby Ghosh, Time, 11 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bellicose
Cite this Entry
“Bellicose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bellicose. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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