as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
bellicose hockey players who seem to spend more time fighting than playing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 bellicose
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
Within the first few weeks of his administration, President Joe Biden launched a reset with the Houthis and pressured the Saudis to end the war against the bellicose Houthi movement.
—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
8 Mar. 2026
His views are too inconsistent, his instincts too fundamentally bellicose.
—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2026
So protesting its bellicose whirl / Is hardly dishonoring him / When Israel’s onslaught is grim.
—
Voice Of The People,
New York Daily News,
1 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bellicose
Patricia Cohen Michael Crowley John Ismay David M. Halbfinger,
New York Times,
12 Mar. 2026
Within the first few weeks of his administration, President Joe Biden launched a reset with the Houthis and pressured the Saudis to end the war against the bellicose Houthi movement.
—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
8 Mar. 2026
His views are too inconsistent, his instincts too fundamentally bellicose.
—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
4 Mar. 2026
So protesting its bellicose whirl / Is hardly dishonoring him / When Israel’s onslaught is grim.
—
Voice Of The People,
New York Daily News,
1 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bellicose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bellicose
Adjective
-
The goal is gentle smoke and indirect heat rather than aggressive flames.
-
Right now, the multi-trillion-dollar global apparel industry is undergoing an aggressive technological shift, adopting artificial intelligence as a production standard rather than an experimental pilot.
Adjective
-
Yet Piker himself has followed the DSA’s militant line, repeatedly praising authoritarian regimes such as China’s, Cuba’s, and Russia’s, as well as terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
-
There are also concerns that fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon could escalate once more and derail future talks.
Adjective
-
And until a Black commentator is held responsible for making openly hostile remarks about White people, nothing will change.
-
For example, in March, the crypto exchange Kraken put its multibillion‑dollar IPO on hold amid hostile market conditions, according to CoinDesk.
Adjective
-
When authenticity becomes uncompromising, candor turns belligerent, consistency becomes rigid, or principled decision-making morphs into dogmatism, even the best intentions can backfire.
-
Athens was a belligerent city-state that fell victim to its own aggressions.
Adjective
-
The poem that precedes it, the Iliad, is a cruel and beautiful work, the ultimate story of war; the Odyssey has its warlike passages, but its central energies seem almost commonplace beside the merciless fury of Achilles.
-
One of the world’s most cooperative mammals is also one of its most warlike.
Cite this Entry
“Bellicose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bellicose. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
