aggressor

as in invader
one that starts armed conflict against another especially without reasonable cause a group of smaller states had formed an alliance to deter potential aggressors

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of aggressor The defense attorneys argued that the restaurant staff and off-duty officer escalated the situation, painting them as the aggressors who improperly served them alcohol and wanted to teach the younger men a lesson. Madeline Buckley, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2025 When the victim refused, the aggressor shoved him to the floor of the station — ending with the victim’s head hitting the steel turnstile. Elizabeth Keogh, New York Daily News, 20 Mar. 2025 My empathy was with the innocent football fans over any aggressor. Andy Mitten, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025 Brit, still processing, clocks that Kenya was angling for a full-on meltdown, trying to provoke her into playing the aggressor. Shelby Stewart, Essence, 14 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for aggressor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for aggressor
raider
Noun
  • Remote raids will continue for both features permanently following their introduction, and in-person Max Battle raiders will now earn more Premier Balls and XP than before.
    Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
  • Gus Jaubert, a Frenchman who cooked for Gen. John Hunt Morgan’s Confederate raiders, supposedly fed hundreds at these events and became known as the father of Kentucky burgoo (his kettle pots are still on display at Buffalo Trace Distillery).
    Brian Bennett, New York Times, 2 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Aggressor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/aggressor. Accessed 21 May. 2025.

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