hawk 1 of 2

noun

ˈhȯk How to pronounce hawk (audio)
Definition of hawknext
as in militant
one who urges or attempts to cause a war the hawks were claiming that without war there could be no peace

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

hawk

2 of 2

verb

as in to peddle
to sell from place to place usually in small quantities a determined bootstrapper who went from hawking newspapers on the street corner to running a media empire

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 hawk
Noun
Jared Bernstein, who served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Biden administration, has similarly sounded more like a debt hawk than a dove. — Jason Ma, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2026 At the same time, Sobyanin, who is widely seen as a pragmatist, has rebuffed calls by Russian hawks for a broad mobilization of conscripts and putting the entire economy on a war footing. — ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026
Verb
Munoz knows this too, saying brands have plenty of young people to hawk their wares but not middle-aged influencers. — Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026 That’s part of a black-market advertising bonanza on the social media site, where sellers are now hawking fake GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and experimental Chinese peptides alongside knockoff luxury handbags and sneakers. — Iain Martin, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hawk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hawk
  1. militant
  2. peddle
  3. militarist
  4. wholesale
  5. warmonger
  6. distribute
  7. war hawk
  8. merchandise
Noun
  • Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of sheltering militants responsible for cross-border attacks.
    — MUNIR AHMED, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Israelis were targeted in a string of hijackings and airplane attacks by Palestinian militants in the 1960s and 1970s.
    — Samy Magdy, Fortune, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of militant
Verb
  • The toxic loans were also packaged and peddled around the world to banks everywhere, resulting in a calamity.
    — Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Online sleuths and true-crime commentators following the broadcast trial had peddled conspiracy theories that Patrick Clancy actually killed the children and framed his wife.
    — Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of peddle
Noun
  • At the same time, the barrage of vitriol unleashed by China castigating Takaichi as a warmongering militarist includes a reprehensible threat by the Chinese consul-general in Osaka about beheading Takaichi.
    — Jeff Kingston, Time, 30 Nov. 2025
Definition of militarist
Verb
  • The response is not to wholesale import consumer-software practices, since consequences in the automotive industry can be hazardous.
    — Rajjie Sarmey, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Schutz often tries out key styles on its website or at one of its flagships in New York and Miami, before bringing them to wholesale in a bigger way.
    — Katie Abel, Footwear News, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of wholesale
Noun
  • The gap between what Russians know to be true about the war and what the Kremlin says about it has grown so wide that even warmongers like Dugin struggle to bridge it.
    — Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 6 June 2026
  • Putin, who ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022, casts European powers as warmongers for supporting Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in support, weapons and intelligence.
    — Guy Faulconbridge, USA Today, 10 May 2026
Definition of warmonger
Verb
  • Troutman is charged with conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute, Hobbs Act extortion under color of official right and racketeering promotion.
    — Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
  • True transformation occurs​ when AI changes how decisions are made, how expertise is distributed, how work moves through the organization and how value is delivered to customers.
    — Jason Marx, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of distribute
Noun
  • The latter, however, would upset the uber-nationalists and war hawks who believe that nothing short of Ukraine’s full capitulation is acceptable for the mighty Russian state.
    — Daniel DePetris, Mercury News, 23 May 2026
  • Great Again isolationists and GOP war hawks.
    — Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 1 Apr. 2026
Definition of war hawk
Verb
  • The Pacific Palisades store is sectioned out more into zones than the previous one; the company sat down with the buyers and visual merchandizing teams to be more strategic in allotment, whether carving out space for denim or The Row.
    — Fairchild Studio, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2026
  • The merchandising giant Fanatics launched a 21+ prediction platform last year.
    — Marshall Cohen, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of merchandise

Phrases Containing hawk

Browse Nearby Words

hawing
hawk
hawked
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hawk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hawk. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on hawk

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about hawk

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of adventitious

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All