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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
Euan Ward, New Yorker, 29 May 2026
Yet critics have pointed to Trump’s meandering speeches and sometimes bellicose rhetoric as evidence of cognitive decline.
—ABC News, 26 May 2026
His more diplomatic trade advisors are now ascendant, with the bellicose faction represented by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Counselor Peter Navarro increasingly sidelined.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 26 May 2026
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bellicose and vengeful rhetoric describing the military’s war in Iran grew out of his experience in Iraq.
—Patricia Cohen Michael Crowley John Ismay David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, 12 Mar. 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 11 Jun. 2026.
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