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

His selection could also alienate more hawkish Republicans. —Aaron Blake, Washington Post, 16 July 2024

And Rubio – the hawkish interventionist – voted with isolationists against the recent round of Ukraine aid in Congress that many Trump followers opposed. —Zac Anderson, USA TODAY, 6 June 2024

For Washington’s hawkish chorus, the benefits of providing increasingly greater lethality to Ukraine outweigh the dangers of provoking a direct Russian attack on the West. —George Beebe, TIME, 1 July 2024

In Trump’s first term, these realist impulses were muted and sometimes stopped by hawkish national security staffers who did not share his vision. —Andrew Byers, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1747, in the meaning defined at sense 1